


The Situation's a Lot More Nuanced Than That

by itsactuallycorrine



Series: Community Appreciation Week 2017 [7]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Britta/Jeff, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, F/M, Troy/Annie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-24 15:17:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10744329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsactuallycorrine/pseuds/itsactuallycorrine
Summary: ♫ She was working hard at a New York job,making dough but it made her blueOne day she was crying a lotand so she decided to move toGreendale County, Colorado,Brand new pals and new career,It happens to be where Troy lives,but that's not why she's here! ♫





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> CommunityAW17 Day 7! I can't believe I was able to write something for every day, but it's been a blast. Today's prompt is nontraditional AU, and I actually came up with this idea roughly 10 minutes before I found out about Community Appreciation Week. This prompt was the one that convinced me to participate.
> 
> This is very broadly based on the first season of _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_. I tried to fuse the two canons together, so I've played fast and loose with the established histories from Community. Three big changes: 1) Troy moved to Colorado before his junior year of high school; 2) Annie lives in New York and doesn't have her breakdown or go to rehab until after she gets her bachelor's degree; 3) Therefore Annie is not in the study group and that Affects Things.
> 
> If you are familiar with _Crazy Ex-Girlfriend_ , I do not take Annie to the extremes to which Rebecca goes, because a) who has the time? and b) Annie, while occasionally manipulative and insecure, is nowhere near as complex or self-hating as Rebecca. So this is like a milder, kinder AU.
> 
> Anything you recognize from either show is obviously not mine.
> 
> A big **THANK YOU** to everyone who has been so great reading, leaving kudos, and commenting on my other stories this week. 
> 
> This story kind of got out of control, which is why this is the first part. I have a good majority of the next piece written and it should be up within the week.

When Annie Edison looks up from her panic attack in an alley and sees the butter advertisement through the tears in her eyes, she thinks she’s going crazy. And that’s a legitimate concern for someone who once ran through a window because was so high on Adderall.

 

Not even ten minutes ago, she’d been sorting through her mail at home, when she’d glanced up at the commercial that had asked, over a clip of a biscuit being buttered, “When was the last time you were truly happy?”

 

The question had given her pause, and that’s when she realized she was holding an acceptance letter to graduate school. The very thing she’d worked three long years to earn again, after ruining her last shot at it.

 

Objectively, it was fantastic news. _That_ should have been the moment where everything in her life realigned and it all should have clicked, and she should have realized: this is what happy feels like. Which is why the panic attack doesn’t make much sense. And yet, here she is, standing in the alley, still in her work clothes, panting and shaking.

 

That’s when she sees it: the golden brown, fluffy biscuit; the melting butter; the haunting phrase asking her again, “When was the last time you were truly happy?”

 

And like some miracle, her gaze falls from the ad and she sees _him._ Troy Barnes, her first love, the coolest guy at her school, until he moved away before their junior year. Before she got up the nerve to tell him how she felt. Before she got hooked on Adderall and before her mom talked her out of rehab. Before she went off to college, only to have a breakdown bad enough that she had to put off grad school to pull her life together.

 

When he starts to walk away, it’s as if some string pulls her along, and she follows him one block, then two, before she blurts out, “Troy! Troy Barnes!”

 

He turns and gives her a polite smile, but there’s no recognition. “Do I know you?”

 

She ignores the sting of it and laughs. “It’s me, Annie Edison! Riverside High? I sat behind you in algebra.”

 

“Oh, yeah!” he says, obviously lying. “Right, Annie Edison. How are you?”

 

“I’m fine. I’m… what are you doing in New York? It’s been, what, ten years since you moved away?”

 

Troy nods. “I actually moved back to Westchester a few months ago, to help my nana after she had hip surgery.”

 

“Wow! That’s so nice of you, Troy.” She giggles and wants to die immediately from the embarrassment. What is she, twelve? She says hastily to cover it, “We should hang out sometime. Get a drink. Or dinner. Or whatever, I’m up for...” She swallows hard. “Anything.”

 

“I’d love to! But I’m actually moving back home, to Greendale. My nana, she doesn’t need me anymore and, to be honest, she’s kind of a monster.” He sighs in contentment. “I can’t wait to get back home. The people are so different there, compared to New York. They’re so… happy.”

 

There’s that word again. It resonates within Annie like a gong and she finds herself asking, “Greendale. That’s… where is that, again?”

 

“Colorado.” His phone buzzes in his hand and he winces when he checks it, shooting her an apologetic smile. “It’s been great catching up with you, but I really need to take off. Hit me up on Facebook, Andi! We should keep in touch.”

 

“It’s Annie,” she says, but it doesn’t matter. He’s already gone.

 

But his words rattle around in her head and she wonders…

 

Back in her apartment, she stares at her acceptance letter. If she follows that path, she’ll only be a few short years away from being a hospital administrator. It’s everything she’s ever said she wanted.

 

It doesn’t feel like enough. She can’t just throw this chance away, though. But if she had a good enough reason to defer…

 

She drags her laptop onto her bed and brings up a list of jobs in Greendale.

 

If the right job opportunity came along, she could apply for a deferral and wait to decide if grad school was what she really wanted. In the meantime, she had to take the chance that happiness might just be waiting for her in Greendale, Colorado.

 

And if she happens to run into Troy when she gets there…. Well, it would merely be a coincidence.

 

* * *

 

 

Once her boxes have been moved into her new townhome and she’s replaced all her boring pantsuits with flirty dresses and cardigans, the first thing Annie does is send Troy a friend request, which he accepts immediately. She scrolls through his profile, but it’s mostly game updates and weird BuzzFeed articles his friends have tagged him in.

 

There’s a picture of him hanging out in a bar, a pouty lipped blonde hanging over his shoulder, and something draws tight in Annie’s stomach. Does he have a girlfriend?

 

She checks his relationship status and breathes easy when she sees ‘Single’.

 

Back in his photos, she sees a lot of this bar, so he obviously spends a decent amount of time there. She can’t find any comments with the bar’s name or any exterior pictures of the place, but the blonde has been tagged.

 

Annie clicks through to Britta Perry’s profile, which is mostly restricted, but it does show her current place of employment as The Vatican. A quick Google search tells Annie that this is most likely the bar in question.

 

Tomorrow, after her first day of work, she’ll have to head over, scope out the place. Casually.

 

And, again, if Troy happens to be there… Total. Coincidence.

 

* * *

 

 

Annie feels pretty confident after a morning spent running rings around the practice administrator at the medical office she’s now managing. The poor guy, Craig, has obviously never dealt with anyone of Annie’s drive for perfection, and she had him eating out of the palm of her hand within an hour.

 

The clerical staff, on the other hand… Annie shakes her head when they scatter as she walks into the office complex’s food court. She considers her choices, none of them seeming great, and reluctantly steps up to a cart branded Shirley’s Sandwiches.

 

“Hello!” the woman behind the counter trills with a wide smile. “What can I get you today?”

 

“Do you have anything gluten-free?” Annie asks. “I’m off gluten right now.”

 

The smile fades and the woman’s voice drops lower. “It’s a sandwich shop. I can serve you a sandwich.”

 

“You don’t offer any kind of alternative to bread? Like a wrap made of spinach or sun-roasted tomatoes?” Annie smiles, sweetly condescending. “Can I speak with your manager?”

 

The woman smirks and taps her name badge, which reads, “SHIRLEY,” and Annie sighs. Of course this is the owner.

 

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard all about you. Mmm-hmm. Fancy office manager coming in from New York, taking other people’s jobs, breaking up work families.” The woman sniffs and considers Annie over the counter. “You’re lucky there’s not a jukebox in this food court.”

 

Annie is starting to get nervous now and glances around to find everyone in the food court watching. “I don’t know what that means, but I’m sure I am. Listen, Shirley… I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. How about you give me a recommendation for a sandwich to order?”

 

Shirley doesn’t say anything, just starts slapping components together in a passive-aggressive way that gives Annie flashbacks to life with her mother. When Shirley slides the wrapped sandwich across the counter, Annie meekly thanks her and pays, turning to find a table.

 

It’s like being in high school all over again, everyone watching, judging. No one inviting her to join them. But Annie holds her head up high and takes a seat. She tries not to take it personally when the tables on either side of her clear out within minutes.

 

Picking at her sandwich, which is actually quite good, Annie resumes her Facebook research into every aspect of Troy Barnes’s life. But she must look pathetic, because the next thing she knows, Shirley is sliding in across the table. Annie locks her phone and sets it down, watching the other woman warily.

 

“Look, I know you’re new here, but Greendale isn’t New York. You can’t just go stomping around in your designer heels, acting entitled. It’s off-putting,” Shirley says and Annie swallows any defensive retorts.

 

“Thank you,” she manages, and almost means it. “I’m sorry.” That part she does mean. “I was riding a high from how well the morning was going and I let it go to my head. I’m not normally like that. Or I try not to be.”

 

Shirley offers a smile. “Okay, then. So tell me, what brings you to Greendale? Family? Friends?”

 

Annie’s cheeks heat and she looks down to hide it. “Oh, no. Not really. I ran into an old friend who lived here and he mentioned how nice it was. Then, when Patashnik & Hickey offered me a job, it seemed… like fate.”

 

“An old friend?” Shirley gives her a sly smile. “An old _male_ friend maybe?” she teases with a giggle and Annie matches it.

 

“Maybe. His name is Troy. Troy Barnes.”

 

“Oh! I know him!” Shirley frowns a little. “I hope that doesn’t reinforce any stereotypes for you.”

 

“No,” Annie says weakly, taken aback that she may have just toppled her plan to casually run into Troy and let him know she was in town. “How… um, how do you know Troy?”

 

“We went to school together!” She rolls her eyes when Annie frowns, because there is surely an almost twenty year age difference between the two of them. “After my divorce, I went to community college to take some business classes, so I could open my sandwich shop. Troy was in my Spanish study group.”

 

“Wow, that’s… I can’t believe we both know Troy,” Annie says, then trips over herself to add, “Please don’t tell him I’m here. I was going to surprise him.”

 

Shirley looks suspicious, but says, “Okay. Oh, I should get back to my sandwiches. I hope I’ll see you around more, Annie. And… maybe I can look into some of those wraps you mentioned.”

 

Annie nods and then smiles to herself. Did she just make a new friend? This move has already started to pay off.

 

* * *

 

 

She must break land-speed records when 5:00 comes, making it across town to The Vatican to casually occupy a barstool while she waits for Troy to wander in.

 

The bartender is the same blonde from Troy’s photos and she looks suspicious when Annie beams at her. Annie tones down the intensity of her smile, reminding herself that the recognition is one-sided, and slides onto a stool.

 

“If you’re looking for the wine bar, it’s over on Foothill,” the bartender says.

 

Annie laughs over the noise of the surprisingly crowded bar. Apparently citizens of Greendale took their happy hour seriously. “I’m just here for a beer. Any kind,” she says.

 

The bartender—Britta, Annie remembers—sets an opened bottle down on the bar. “Are you new? I’ve never seen you in Greendale before.”

 

“I just moved here. From New York.”

 

Britta’s face lights up. “Really? I lived in New York, too!” She offers her hand for a high-five and Annie, bemused, takes her up on it. “I’m Britta.”

 

“Annie.”

 

“What brings you to Greendale, Annie?” Britta wipes off a section of the bar with the towel from her shoulder and leans onto the clean patch.

 

“A job,” Annie says, taking a sip of her beer and regretting it immediately. Why did she ask for this? She’s not going to drink it. Struggling not to grimace, she looks around the bar for Troy. “I’m managing a medical office, Patashnik & Hickey, over on East Cameron. Do you know it?”

 

Britta ignores the question and follows Annie’s gaze instead. “Are you looking for something?”

 

Annie jolts. “Oh. No. Not really. Um, actually, someone I know from high school lives here. I’m pretty sure, anyway. I thought I might see him around. By coincidence.”

 

“High school? In New York?” Annie can practically see the lightbulb flicker to life over Britta’s head. “You know Troy?”

 

Faking a laugh, Annie gapes at Britta. “ _You_ know Troy?”

 

“Um, yeah. He’s my ex-boyfriend.” When Annie’s face falls, she hastens to explain, “Oh, no, it’s totally cool. We decided we were better as friends. So… you don’t have to, like, pick a side.” She laughs.

 

“Oh, good,” Annie manages, nodding when Britta says she needs to go check on her other customers.

 

She no sooner walks away than someone approaches Annie. She tilts her head up—and up—and up—to find a devastatingly handsome man in an expensive suit standing next to her. One hand is wrapped loosely around a glass of scotch, his dark blond hair is in fashionable disarray, and he’s wearing a smirk that says he knows she likes what she sees.

 

“I’m sorry,” he says, and his voice is low enough that Annie has to lean forward to hear him in the noisy bar, which she knows is all part of the game. “I don't normally do this, but you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. Can I buy you a drink?”

 

Annie lets the flush rise as she demurely looks away. “An appletini?” she says, making her voice a little breathless, fighting back a smile when she sees him hesitate. Turning the full force of her eyes on him, she bites her lip. “Please?”

 

His gaze travels across her face and then down to her chest, but quickly and discreetly enough that she doesn’t call him on it. He turns to flag Britta down with a resigned sigh. “I hope you appreciate the damage you’re doing to my reputation,” he murmurs.

 

She runs a finger along his arm and leans closer to say quietly, “I hope you appreciate the fact that I let you buy me a drink and didn’t turn you down loudly in front of everyone here and ruin your reputation even worse. Especially given that sad line you fed me.”

 

He jerks his head back at that, watching her with narrowed eyes, before he nods. “Well-played,” he says, and the seductive aura leaches out of him. “Jeff Winger, Esquire.”

 

She hesitates before shaking his hand. “Annie Edison, Office Manager. Do people still refer to themselves as ‘esquire’?”

 

“Only pointy-faced jags hoping to lure vulnerable women into their bed,” Britta says behind the bar and Annie turns with a grin.

 

“Shut up and give me another 18,” Jeff says with a smirk, which fades when Annie pointedly clears her throat. He sighs. “And the lady will have an appletini.”

 

Britta laughs outright as she reaches for fresh glasses and Annie feels bad for a second, until she looks at Jeff and sees he’s rolling his eyes and doesn’t care as much as he pretends.

 

When the martini glass is set in front of her, Annie hums in pleasure and takes a drink, nearly choking on it when Britta calls out, “Oh, Annie! I just remembered where Troy is tonight. Abed’s doing a viewing of his newest documentary at their place. Troy wouldn’t miss that. Hell, I wouldn’t miss it if I didn’t need the hours in this dump so bad. I love me some Abed.”

 

Jeff’s brow furrows as he looks down at Annie. “You know Troy and Abed?”

 

“Just Troy. Does everyone know everyone in this town? I thought there were like fifty thousand people living here. According to the most recent census.” When both Jeff and Britta give her an odd look, she shrugs. “I did my research before moving.”

 

Britta starts to say something, but Jeff cuts her off with a look. “It’s a long story. But if you want to go to this viewing, I was invited. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I brought a plus one.” His smile is all teeth.

 

But Annie’s never been afraid of sharks and she knocks back her entire drink. “Let’s go.”

 

Jeff offers his arm. “Milady.”

 

She rolls her eyes as she takes it and can’t help but smile. “Milord.”

 

* * *

 

 

Jeff is either a world-class bullshitter or loves the sound of his own voice—potentially both, given his profession—and talks the entire way over to Troy’s house.

 

Annie’s not really listening and he doesn’t seem to mind that she’s not contributing anything more than agreeable sounds, until she cuts him off. “So what’s this long story about how you know Troy?”

 

He glances over at her in the dim light of the car. “I, uh, had some legitimacy issues with my bachelor’s degree and the Colorado Bar suspended my license until I replaced it. I enrolled in community college and I was able to get it done in three-and-a-half years. I met Troy there. Britta, too, actually.”

 

But Annie’s stuck on something else. “What exactly does ‘legitimacy issues’ mean? Did you…” She gasps. “Did you _fake_ your bachelor’s degree? How long did you get away with that?”

 

He grins, unrepentant. “Seven years. And the best part, all the guys at my practice, including my boss, think I’m a god because of it. And, hey, who am I to disprove them?”

 

His grin is infectious and, even though Annie knows she should be appalled, she matches it. She doesn’t trust him an inch, but he’s entertaining. She’ll give him that. “So then, you met Troy and…”

 

“Do you have a thing for him? Troy? Because he seems to come up a lot.” His face is carefully blank and his voice neutral, but he seems annoyed nonetheless.

 

“No, no,” Annie says with a strained laugh. “I mean, maybe, I did. In high school. Which is where we met. But no. Because that’d be… that’d be crazy if I still did. And I’m not crazy.”

 

He glances at her again. “Well, nothing sells that like the fact that you felt it needed to be said.” Hesitating for a beat, he sighs. “Listen, I’m not helping you violate a restraining order or anything by bringing you to this viewing, am I? Because I don’t think I’ll get a third chance with the Bar.”

 

She can’t stop the offended gasp. “No! I haven’t even seen Troy in like ten years. Except for, you know, once. Shortly before I received a job offer and moved out here. But that was just for like five minutes.”

 

“Okay, good,” he says, but he doesn’t sound convinced. Nonetheless he pulls up to a curb and points at an apartment building. “They’re on the third floor but we’ll have to wait for someone to come down and let us up.”

 

And of course it’s Troy who comes to the front door after they buzz up. He grins at Jeff and gives him a back-slapping hug. “Jeff! It’s been too long, man.” He glances at Annie with a jerk of his chin. “I’m Troy.”

 

Jeff is gaping at them now and Annie can’t quite kill the curl of humiliation in her stomach. “Troy,” she says with a shrill laugh, “it’s me. Annie Edison. From high school.”

 

“Oh my god! I’m sorry. And I just saw you in New York.” He shakes his head but his face morphs from remorse to confusion. “Wait. I _just_ saw you in New York.”

 

“It’s such a funny story! Like two days after I ran into you, I got a job offer from a medical office here in town. It was so insanely good, I couldn’t turn it down. So now I’m here! In Greendale!”

 

Troy grins. “That’s awesome! Hey, maybe now we can hang out sometime, huh?”

 

Her heart swells as she nods. “Yes. We should.”

 

“Troy!” a voice calls from up the stairs. “We’re starting.”

 

“Coming, Abed!” Troy yells back and then turns to wave Jeff and Annie in. “We’re pretty much down to standing room only. It’s a great turn out. We’re happy you could make it.”

 

It turns out Troy’s not joking about standing room. There are so many people crammed into the apartment that Annie has to actively repress the need to look up the fire code on her phone.

 

Troy takes a seat up near the front where a projection screen has been hung. Beside him is a tall skinny guy—possibly Middle Eastern or Southeast Asian?—who stares at her with narrowed eyes.

 

“Who’s that?” she asks Jeff as he leads her to the back of the crowd. “With Troy?”

 

He glances over. “That’s Abed, Troy’s best friend and roommate.”

 

“Oh.” Annie tries not to, she really does, but the words come out anyway. “Like our-families-wouldn’t-understand _‘roommate’_ or actual roommate?”

 

Jeff’s forehead scrunches in bemusement as he stares down at her. “We’re pretty sure the second one, but honestly, they’re more devoted to each other than any romantic relationship I’ve ever witnessed. It was hell while Troy was away for those few months.”

 

So if she wants to get in with Troy, she has to make friends with Abed, Annie realizes. Before she can interrogate Jeff about Abed—likes, dislikes, any lingering childhood psychological scars she can exploit for her own gain—the man in question stands to face the crowd and the room goes silent.

 

“Welcome,” he says in a voice that betrays no emotion. “Tonight we’ll be viewing a documentary I made about the rise and fall and subsequent disappearance of computer genius and local millionaire Russell Borchert. As a reminder, anyone who talks during the film will be banned from this apartment for life.” His eyes meet Annie’s and she sinks into Jeff’s side. “No exceptions.”

 

Troy half rises and turns to the crowd. “Stick around afterwards for juice boxes and pizza rolls!”

 

When they take their seats again and the lights dim, Annie tilts her head up to Jeff to ask him why Abed looked at her, but he sternly shakes his head and nods toward the screen. Annie takes the hint.

 

The next 135 minutes are interminable. Not that the documentary is bad—on the contrary, it’s an amusing and interesting foray into a local legend and Annie learns a lot about the community she’s moved to. But it’s excruciating to have Troy right there, in her sights, and not be able to do anything about it.

 

The film ends and the lights come back up. A few people trickle out, but by and large the majority stay to mingle. There’s a large group circled around Troy and Abed, and Annie smiles winningly at Jeff.

 

“You should introduce me to Abed. So I can congratulate him.”

 

He rolls his eyes but offers his arm to her again, and the crowd parts like the Red Sea to let them pass. Annie wonders what kind of reputation Jeff has among these people, but then she’s faced with Troy. Oh, and Abed, too.

 

Jeff waves a hand her way. “Abed, this is Annie. Annie, Abed.”

 

When Abed ignores her offered hand, Annie drops it with a nervous titter. “I loved your documentary. Honestly, I learned so much about Greendale from it. Do you have any others that focus on local history I might see? I’m interested in learning all I can.”

 

“Not really,” Abed says, not quite meeting her eyes. “I only make documentaries if I’m anxious or to help me make sense of reality. Or if I get paid for it. This one was made after Troy left for New York. Most of my work is scripted, to parody reality.”

 

Troy pats him on the back. “And we’ll get back to that, now that I’m here,” he promises.

 

Someone behind Abed asks him a question and he and Troy turn away.

 

Annie tries to catch Troy’s eye and even says his name a couple times, but he doesn’t respond. Just like in high school, she’s invisible. She turns to Jeff, only to find he’s gone as well.

 

With a huff, she looks around, finally spotting him talking to a redhead near the doorway, and she walks his way, close enough to hear him say, “...most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen,” and it’s the final straw.

 

She storms out of the apartment building, pausing when she realizes Jeff was her ride and she has no idea where she is. Pulling up the navigation app on her phone, she plugs in her new address, sighs when she realizes she’s a few miles away, and starts down the sidewalk.

 

She makes it a few blocks before a minivan passes her and then stops for a suspiciously long time at the corner. As she draws nearer, Annie fumbles in her bag for her pepper spray, just in case.

 

But when she reaches the corner and casually glances over, it’s Shirley of Shirley’s Sandwiches in the van.

 

“Annie?” Shirley calls through the open passenger window. “I thought that was you! What are you doing walking out this late at night?”

 

Annie walks up to the side of the van with a grimace. “I let this guy take me to his friends’ house and he flaked on me. It’s not a big deal.”

 

“Ooh, that sounds like a story. Climb in and I’ll take you home.”

 

Annie smile and does as she says. “It’s really not that interesting,” she says after fastening her seat belt. “I was hoping to see Troy—you know, to just let him know I was in town,” she adds hastily when Shirley glances at her askance. “But it was like I wasn’t even there.” She slumps against the passenger door with a sigh.

 

“Annie,” Shirley says in a lilting voice, “are you in love with Troy? Because I would understand if you were. He’s a very handsome and kind young man.”

 

“What? No!” Annie forces a chuckle. “Of course not. I just… I mean… when I ran into Troy in New York, before he moved back, he told me all about Greendale and he kept using the word ‘happy’ and—I don’t know… Just being around him made me feel like glitter was exploding inside of me. But I’m not in love with Troy. If anything, I’m in love with Greendale.”

 

Shirley scoffs. “You can lie to yourself, girl, but you can’t lie to me. You’re in love with Troy. You moved out here to be with him, gave up your life. And you know what? I’m going to help you. ”

 

Annie perks up in her seat, hope rushing through her. “Really? You’ll help me? But why?”

 

“Because bravery and dedication like that should be rewarded,” Shirley says with a grim smile. “I wish, when I was married…” She trails off with a shake of her head. “But it’s going to be different for you. We’ll make sure of it.”

 

* * *

 

 

Annie spends her entire lunch hour the following day scheming with Shirley, who turns out to be a veritable font of information about Troy and Abed. Shirley talks Annie into creating fake social media accounts and, with those, she follows Abed’s Instagram and Twitter. The latter helps especially, giving her an insight into all the areas where Shirley may not be as savvy, like pop culture.

 

Annie even finds herself amused by Abed’s tweets and thinks at least it won’t be boring getting to know him. She turns on tweet notification for his account and dedicates the remainder of the week to reconnaissance... and learning her job, of course. After all, Troy’s not going anywhere.

 

Late Saturday afternoon, she’s running errands—picking up odds and ends for the townhome, grabbing some groceries and wine—when the notification she’s been waiting for comes through: _finally seeing #logan damn you fox for making me care about wolverine again._

 

Annie pulls up the listings for the movie theater and calculates she has enough time to run home and primp, then race back to casually walk around the Greendale Mall as the movie lets out. And, oh, what a coincidence if Troy and Abed happen to be walking out at that moment. Maybe they could all grab dinner.

 

Pumping her fist in triumph, she ignores the remainder of her list and makes a beeline up to the checkout.

 

Ten minutes before the movie is set to end, Annie walks through the mall, keeping her pace leisurely so she doesn’t look sweaty or flushed by the time she reaches the theater. She still arrives early, so she’s pretending to check the posted movie times when something catches her eye. It’s Jeff, walking out of the theater, looking good in skinny jeans and a fitted blue t-shirt, and Annie’s annoyed to feel the pull of attraction, especially now that she knows what a player he can be.

 

Not that she’s here for Jeff or interested in him at all, she tells herself. It doesn’t stop the surge of adrenaline when he spots her and grins. She turns back to her feigned interest in the movie listings, and she’s so dedicated to the ruse, that she jumps when he walks up behind her.

 

“If you wanna see something terrible and make out in the back of the theater, I’m in,” he says over her shoulder and once she regains her composure, she huffs and turns away. “What?”

 

She swivels to face him. “Are you serious? I had to walk home after you ditched me the other night.” Okay, it’s not totally the truth, but it’s worth it to see his wince of guilt. “Some welcome wagon you are.”

 

“Alright, that was kind of shitty of me,” he admits. “I was going to text you to make sure you made it home okay, but I don’t have your number.” He grins and offers up his phone.

 

With a roll of her eyes, Annie plugs in her information and shoves the phone back at him. “For emergencies only,” she says, biting back a smile when he crosses his heart and holds his hand up in the Boy Scouts’ salute. “You’re not as charming as you think you are.”

 

“Says the woman who was mad at me a minute ago and is all but swooning into my arms now.”

 

“Please.” But the smile escapes her anyway. To cover it, she glances back at the theater. “What’d you see?”

 

He hesitates a second too long and covers it with a smooth smile when she looks up at him. “Nothing interesting. You wanna grab some dinner? I’ll even pay, to make up for the other night.”

 

Annie blinks. “Oh… well…”

 

That’s when Troy and Abed walk out of the theater and make a beeline for Jeff. “I can’t believe you walked out before the after-credits scene, man!” Troy says to Jeff, shaking his head incredulously.

 

“It never adds anything to the movie!” Jeff argues, but in the weary tones of someone who’s hashed out this conflict again and again. “I’m not going to sit there for ten minutes of credits to see thirty seconds of some random character doing something that doesn’t affect the rest of the franchise.”

 

Abed doesn’t weigh in and instead watches Annie with fathomless dark eyes. “You came with Jeff to the documentary the other night.” He glances between the two of them. “Are you dating?”

 

“No!” Annie blurts, loud enough that Troy jumps, and she lets out a strained laugh. “I mean, no. We, uh, we just met that night and he invited me along. Right, Jeff?”

 

Jeff’s brow smooths as soon as she turns to him. “Right,” he says. “Although we were talking about grabbing dinner…”

 

Annie seizes on the opening. “You guys should come!” she says to Troy and Abed, nudging Jeff as she adds, “Jeff said he’d pay.”

 

Jeff sighs at the ceiling when their gazes all swing towards him. _“Fine._ I’ll pay for you guys, too. But we’re going to Señor Kevin’s since it’s close, and I swear to God, Abed, if you mention _Die Hard_ even once, I will murder you.”

 

Troy bounces in place. “Yes! Their guac is where it’s at. And it’ll be great to finally have some time to catch up with Annie. Annie and I went to high school together before I moved here,” he says to Abed.

 

Something like understanding dawns on Abed’s face and he nods to himself while he considers her, and Annie widens her eyes to appear as non-threatening as possible.

 

In the restaurant, once their orders have been placed and the manager has swung by to antagonize Abed for a few minutes, Jeff asks, “So Annie, what was Troy like as an underclassman? We know he was a big man on campus, football stud after moving to Greendale.”

 

“Oh, pretty much the same at Riverside,” Annie says with a smile at Troy. “He was popular and athletic. He even got asked to the senior prom when he was a freshman.”

 

Troy sighs in reminiscence. “Naomi Garfinkel. She was a gymnast.” All three guys chuckle.

 

“And an All-American Scholar,” Annie tacks on in annoyance and fumbles to cover it when they all turn to her. Still she can’t help but add, “She got into _Yale_.”

 

Abed chooses that moment to cut in, and she could kiss him, until he says, “Troy, what was Annie like in high school?”

 

Her heart sinks like lead and she stares into the depths of her colorful berry margarita as she prepares for Troy to admit that he doesn’t remember her.

 

But instead he says, “A little nerdy. She had glasses and braces.” He grins when she jerks her head up to stare at him. “She was a really good student, too. Involved in student government and a bunch of academic clubs. I remember that.” When she continues to stare, he shrugs. “After the other night, I pulled my old sophomore yearbook out to figure out why I couldn’t remember you, but as soon as I saw your picture, it all came back.” He shakes his head in wonder. “You look so much hotter now.”

 

Annie preens a little and thanks him, her cheeks heating. She tries to deflect the attention by asking, “Troy, you enrolled at community college after high school, right?”

 

“Yep,” he says, putting his hand on Abed’s shoulder, “that’s where we met. Oh, we met Jeff there, too.”

 

She nods. “He mentioned that.”

 

The waiter comes with their food and once he’s gone, Jeff asks Annie, “Where did you go to school? Someplace fancy?”

 

The familiar panic coats the lining of her stomach and her laugh sounds frantic even to her own ears. “Oh, it’s not important.”

 

But Troy doesn’t take the hint. “Johns Hopkins, right? I remember because I got confused when people from Riverside started posting on Facebook about your breakdown. I thought it was a dude from our class and I had to look it up.” He takes a bite of his burrito then freezes when he sees everyone staring at him. “What? Did you guys want to pray first? In public? Don’t be weird.”

 

Jeff turns to Annie with a frown, brow furrowed in concern. “You had a breakdown?”

 

She nudges her food around her plate, appetite gone. “I, um… I had an Adderall addiction that lasted basically through my senior year of high school and all through my undergraduate studies. There was a lot of pressure on me to get into the grad school program I wanted and I…” Swallowing hard, she closes her eyes. “During my admissions interview, I freaked out and ran through a window. I checked myself into a rehab clinic after that.”

 

Silence rests heavy over the entire table, throbbing in time with Annie’s pulse.

 

“Jeff gets really mad when he’s not the best at something, or when he’s not in charge. And he has a problem with intimacy because of his dad.” Abed shrugs when Annie blinks at him. “I have control and abandonment issues, and I use pop culture references to make sense of reality.”

 

“Yeah, and I had to smile when I didn’t feel like smiling,” Troy says.

 

Abed doesn’t acknowledge that. “We’re all broken,” he says, and Annie accepts the olive branch with a tremulous smile

 

Jeff lifts his glass. “To being broken,” he says with a grin, and they clink their glasses and take a drink.

 

The conversation lightens from there and Annie resumes her original goal of trying to worm her way into Abed’s good graces, asking him about his interests and hobbies. The two of them monopolize the conversation, with Troy getting a word in edgewise every once in awhile. Jeff stays silent and plows through drink after drink.

 

When the bill comes, Annie swipes it from him, ignoring his protests. “I didn’t really mean for you to pay for everyone. It’s on me this time.”

 

His unfocused eyes soften and Annie watches as his lips part.

 

But then Troy says, “Thanks, Annie!” and she flushes while Jeff finishes the dregs of his drink and lurches unsteadily to his feet.

 

Annie watches him in concern, then turns to Troy and Abed. “You guys can get him home, right? I don’t think he’s in any condition to drive.”

 

 _“He_ can hear you and I'm fine,” Jeff says, reaching into his pocket and staring at his hand when it comes up empty.

 

Abed holds the keys up. “I’m way ahead of you,” he tells Annie and tosses the keys to Troy, who looks overjoyed.

 

“I can’t believe it’s happening again. Dreams _do_ come true. Jeff never lets anyone drive his Lexus,” he explains.

 

Annie nods and watches as Troy props Jeff up and walks away. She starts to call out to Troy, but notices Abed standing beside her. “I had fun tonight,” she says. “We should do this again.”

 

He scrutinizes her for a moment. “I know that romance can be its own adventure, but it’s not one that holds my interests.”

 

Nonplussed, Annie stares at him. “Oooookay…”

 

“That being said, do you know what movies where the heroine uproots her life to follow her unwitting love interest almost all have in common?” When Annie shakes her head, he gives her a small triumphant smile. “After the initial chase, the protagonist falls for someone else. Just something to keep in mind.”

 

Annie gapes as he walks away.

 

* * *

 

 

She texts Shirley the next morning to update her on the progress with Abed and, after much deliberation, includes his parting shot.

 

Shirley wastes no time in replying.

 

 **Shirley:** I’d heed that warning. Abed is a wizard. He KNOWS things! It's unnatural

 

Annie rolls her eyes and doesn’t think about it again as she throws in a load of laundry.

 

It’s early afternoon when her phone vibrates with another notification, a text from an unknown number.

 

 **Unknown:** it’s an emergency

 **Unknown:** i realized you didn’t have my number

 

Annie smiles and adds the contact to her phone.

 

 **Annie:** Did you pray to the porcelain god this morning?

 **Jeff:** hangovers are for mere mortals. i bow to no lesser deity

 **Jeff:** i feel like i still owe you one

 **Annie:** If we’re keeping score, you owe me two now ;)

 **Jeff:** i’d suggest drinks but i think you have a good idea how that will go

 **Annie:** lol

 **Jeff:** do you like burgers?

 **Annie:** Of course, who doesn’t?

 **Annie:** Jeff, if you know someone who doesn’t like burgers, kick them out of your life immediately

 **Annie:** They’re obviously toxic

 **Jeff:** britta’s a vegan and i’ve been trying to kick her out for years but she keeps coming back

 **Jeff:** there’s this burger festival going on this weekend today’s the last day

 **Jeff:** wanna grab dinner there? my treat

 

Abed’s words drift through her mind, but Annie shoos them away. This isn’t anything—two friends, getting burgers at a festival. That’s all.

 

 **Annie:** Sounds great

 **Jeff:** text me your address and i’ll be there at 5

 

He pulls up at five on the dot and she walks out to meet him before he even puts the car in park. “That excited to see me?” he teases as she climbs into the passenger seat.

 

Annie huffs out a laugh. “I’ve been trying to wean myself off gluten, but then I looked at the website for this festival and, honestly, you are so going to regret offering to pay. There’s a vendor who grills their buns with garlic butter.” She moans at the thought, her mouth watering.

 

Jeff chokes, but when she glances over, he looks normal enough, although his eyes show the wear and tear from the previous night. As he pulls away from the lot, he glances over and catches her staring. “What?”

 

“I’m just… really glad that I met you that first night,” she says, with a rush of amiable contentment. “You’ve been so nice and welcoming. Not at all what I expected when you first approached me.”

 

The corner of his mouth tips up. “You’re not what I expected either.” He hesitates. “Annie, about that night we met…”

 

“Jeff, it’s fine. Really. You let me tag along with you, probably hoping it would end in a hookup, and, when it didn’t, you looked for another prospect.” She smiles at him. “I get it. I was more annoyed about losing my ride, to be honest.”

 

He thinks about that for a minute and then nods. “I’m glad we didn’t sleep together that first night. I probably would have avoided you afterwards, without ever really getting to know you.” He shoots her a smile that’s almost… shy, and her heart melts. “I’m glad I got to know you, that we’re, you know, hanging out.”

 

Annie coos out an _Awwww_ and enjoys Jeff’s discomfort as he searches for a place to park in the overflowing municipal lot.

 

The park grounds are just as packed and Annie gets jostled by more than one passer-by. She’s lucky Jeff is so tall, because even in a crowd like this, he’s easy to find when they get separated.

 

They manage to grab a few different types of burgers from several vendors and split each one so they can each try it. Annie teases Jeff when he discards the bun, which leads to a conversation about carbs, fitness routines, and the local gyms.

 

A small stage is set up on the west side of the grounds and Jeff grins when he sees the band about to start. “Yes! I was hoping we’d be able to catch them. They’re the best cover band in the area, and not just because they play a lot of Dave.” At her blank stare, he shakes his head and elaborates, “Dave Matthews Band…”

 

Annie wrinkles her nose. “I never got into them. I guess they were before my time.”

 

Jeff looks offended at that, but narrows his eyes. “How old are you?”

 

She jerks her head back to scowl at him. “How old are _you?_ ”

 

“On the count of three, let’s both say how old we think the other is,” Jeff offers and counts to three.

 

“Thirty-eight.”

 

“Twenty-nine.”

 

He’s obviously pleased by her guess and she doesn’t have the heart to tell him she low-balled it for his sake, so instead she says, “I’m twenty-six.” She frowns. “You knew I went to high school with Troy.”

 

“Yeah,” he says at length, “but you never said you were the same age. And I’m forty-two. For the record.” They lock eyes and Annie sees the same dilemma in him that’s racing through her mind. Sixteen years is a not-insignificant age difference.

 

But they’re friends. _Just_ friends, Annie reminds herself. So ages don’t matter. She shakes it off with a smile and bumps his arm with her shoulder. “So, like, on a scale of one to ten, how sensitive are you about your age? I don’t want to tease you and send you into a tailspin.”

 

He winces. “Uh, yeah. I’m like a thirty, so it’s probably a good idea to avoid that topic.”

 

She laughs. “Noted. Do you wanna watch?” she asks, pointing towards the stage.

 

They find a relatively clean spot on the bleachers and Annie basks in the moment, enjoying the last hours of her weekend as the sun slowly descends and a local band tries its best. She glances at Jeff, who is clearly trying to feign disinterest in the band’s set but is secretly thrilled, and that warm rush fills her chest again.

 

After a few songs, he glances over, grinning when she flushes at being caught staring—again. “I’m proud of you,” he leans closer to say over the music. “We’ve been out for two whole hours and you haven’t mentioned Troy once. I was worried you only agreed to come out with me so you could pump me for information.” He stands. “Do you want a drink? I think you’ve earned something sickeningly sweet and alcoholic. I won’t even complain about ordering it.”

 

She nods with a forced smile when he raises a brow in question. As he leaves, his casual Troy revelation gives Annie pause. She never even considered asking him about Troy—hasn’t since after that first night—even though Jeff would be a good source of information, maybe even better than Shirley. And, she realizes with a jolt, not only has she not mentioned Troy, she hasn’t really thought about him since this morning either.

 

Conflicting emotions rage within her. On one hand, she knows it’s good to have interests, friends, a life outside of Troy. On the other… if she doesn’t end up with Troy, end up happy, what has this all been about? Has she really uprooted her entire life, put off her dreams, for a guy she doesn’t even care about that much ?

 

When her breath becomes labored and cold sweat breaks out in the small of her back, she fumbles for her phone. A distraction. That’s what she needs. Anything so she doesn’t have to think about this right now. She sorts through a few apps, finally landing on Facebook.

 

The top post by popularity is one of the last things she needs right now: a picture of a hand wearing an obnoxiously large diamond ring with the announcement, **Annie Kim is engaged to Jeremy Simmons** . Annie swallows hard against the bile that rises. Of course, her two greatest nemeses from college would find each other and fall in love. Of course _they_ get to be happy, while Annie throws her entire life away on a guy who barely remembers she exists.

 

She locks her phone and shoves it in her purse, anxiously looking around for Jeff. She spots him still in line for drinks, although he’s almost up to the bar. She can’t wait, though. She needs to go and she needs him to keep her mind off everything, by any means possible. He seemed up to it the first night and, although he said he’s glad they didn’t sleep together then, she doesn’t think he’d turn it down now if she asked.

 

As she starts to descend the bleachers, she jerks to a stop when a guy walks in front of her. “Sorry!” she says as a knee-jerk instinct, then looks up at him. He’s probably a few years older than her, with shaggy dark blonde hair and overgrown stubble. Most notably, he’s wearing neither a shirt nor shoes, but he has a guitar strapped to his back. Annie smiles. Perfect. Better than sleeping with Jeff and risking it getting back to Troy. “Very sorry.”

 

“Hey, hi, what’s up? I’m Vaughn. You’re not leaving, are you? My band’s about to go on.” He smiles at her, all guileless charm. “I’d hate for you to miss it.”

 

“Oh… No, I can stick around,” Annie says, biting her lip. “Maybe we could get a drink after?”

 

Vaughn rocks back on his heels with a nod. “Awesome. See you then, mountain flower,” he says with a wink. Before he walks toward the stage, he glances off to the side and jerks his head in acknowledgement.

 

Annie finds Jeff standing there, drinks clutched in his hands as he glares at Vaughn’s back. She walks up to him and takes the bright red wine cooler he offers. “Do you know Vaughn? His band is getting ready to play a set.”

 

Jeff turns back to her with stormy eyes. “He and Britta dated for a while. Did you want to stay to watch?” He’s clearly not interested, all but wrinkling his nose in distaste. “I have an early morning tomorrow.”

 

“Oh, if you need to leave, I’m sure I can get a ride home with Vaughn,” she says, clapping awkwardly around her bottle as the current band finishes up their last number. In the lull as the music acts change, she smiles up at Jeff. “I think we can call it even now.”

 

He stares down at his drink and takes a deep breath, before he grins at her. “I guess I can stay to finish this. And maybe heckle Vaughn a little.”

 

Jeff ends up nursing his drink through half the set and doesn’t heckle once. At least, not loud enough to carry beyond Annie, who laughs even while she swats at him. When he stands to leave, Annie hugs him and he hesitates before returning the gesture.

 

“Thank you for inviting me out,” she says, resting her head against his firm chest for a second before she leans back to look up at him. “I meant what I said earlier, I’m really glad we’re friends.”

 

He gives a tight nod. “Me, too. See you around?”

 

His arms drop as he turns away and Annie shivers in the sudden coolness of the night.

 

* * *

 

 

In terms of a one-night-stand, Vaughn ends up being a bust. She invites him in, but he only wants to kiss a little and play his guitar for her. He rushed into relationships too quick and got hurt too much when he was younger, he tells her, looking like a whipped puppy, and she doesn’t have the heart to ask him to leave. So instead, she patiently listens to song after song.

 

But at least she’s distracted, which was the ultimate goal.

 

It is annoying the next day to find one of his songs stuck in her head—one to which she doesn’t know the words and only the melody of the chorus, so she’s humming the same eight bars, over and over and over, and nothing she does pries it loose.

 

By late morning, when all of the charts start to look the same, the lack of sleep from staying awake to be serenaded catches up to her and she decides to head to the food court for a coffee and to catch up with Shirley face-to-face.

 

In retrospect, she’s not sure why she’s so surprised to see Shirley deep in conversation with Jeff. If she’d sat down and thought it through, the odds Shirley and Jeff knew each other were probably pretty high. They attended the same community college, had mutual acquaintances in Troy and Abed. But for some reason, it never occurred to her to ask if they knew each other.

 

She wonders for a moment if her mother is right, and she really is nothing more than a selfish, self-involved child. It’s an unsettling thought she can’t possibly juggle along with everything else, so she sets it aside to deal with another day. For now, she walks up to Shirley’s counter with a cheery, “Hey, guys!”

 

“Annie!”

 

“Annie?”

 

Their gazes swing abruptly from Annie back to each other, Jeff looking guilty while Shirley seems to realize something.

 

Shirley’s the first one to recoup. “Annie, you know Jeff? How did you two meet?” she asks sweetly, turning back to smile at Annie.

 

“We met at the Vatican after my first day at work.” Annie bumps her hip into his. Or tries to, anyway, but mostly hits thigh. “He’s the one who ditched me at Troy and Abed’s.”

 

With a scowl, Shirley scolds him. “Jeffrey! You’re lucky I was driving by and found her. What were you thinking, letting her walk home by herself at that time of night? What kind of gentleman are you?”

 

Jeff sputters as he turns on Annie. “Wait a minute. I thought you _did_ walk home. Wasn’t there some pitiful story you told me along those lines? Was it all just a ploy to get me to feed you?” He shakes his head in faux dismay.

 

She grins sunnily. “Never get between a woman and her food, Jeff. She’ll do what she has to in order to survive. Speaking of which,” she says to Shirley, “can I get a coffee? Ooh, and maybe a brownie?”

 

Shirley starts to pour the coffee. “Annie, pumpkin, you know I make my brownies with love. And by love, I mean gluten. So—”

 

Annie sighs and leans on the counter. “That’s over. Jeff tempted me with buns yesterday.” When Shirley’s brows shoot up and Jeff chokes, Annie flushes. “Wait! Not like… I didn’t mean… I meant hamburger buns!” she shouts over their laughter, making everyone in the food court stare. “Grow up,” she sniffs, but laughs along with them after a beat.

 

Shirley’s wiping tears from her eyes as they all compose themselves, and she sighs as she plates up a brownie. “Does that mean you actually got this boy to eat carbs?” she asks with a teasing smile towards Jeff.

 

Scoffing, Annie rolls her eyes. “I’m not a miracle worker.” She waves between the two of them. “So I guess you guys know each other from school?”

 

Jeff nods. “We were in the same Spanish study group, along with Troy, Britta, and Abed. Another guy was there for a few weeks, but… he didn’t last.”

 

Shirley hands Annie her order and rings it up. “We try to stay in touch after that, although it’s a bit difficult with all of our schedules. Especially now that most of us have gotten our degrees. I hardly ever see anyone but Jeff. He helped me open this stand here, you know.”

 

“Really?”

 

It’s the most discomfited she’s ever seen Jeff, as he fidgets and looks away. “Well, you know, I got my old job back at Hamish, Hamish, & Hamlin. I noticed there was available space in the food court.” He shrugs. “It seemed like a good fit.”

 

Annie gasps as she realizes why she knows that name. “You work at the law firm on the third floor? My new job is at Patashnik & Hickey on five.”

 

He nods. “That explains why I’ve never run into you. I avoid that floor like the plague. Craig Pelton is obsessed with me.”

 

Annie rolls her eyes at Shirley, who just nods.

 

“It’s true,” she tells Annie solemnly. “For a while there, I was concerned we were going to wake up one morning to find out Jeff had been made into a skin suit.”

 

“Yeah, and while that'd be the best-looking suit ever made, it’s a fate I’d like to avoid.” He checks his watch and swears. “I need to get back up there. I’ll see you guys later.”

 

“Bye, Jeff!” Annie calls with a wave and catches the accusatory expression on Shirley’s face once he’s gone. “What’d I do?”

 

“Abed told you, and I tried to warn you to listen, but what did you do? You went out with _him_ ,” Shirley says, pointing after Jeff, “and you’re going to ruin all our plans. What about Troy?”

 

“What _about_ Troy? Jeff and I are friends. That’s all.”

 

Shirley shakes her head as she busies herself tidying up. “You can say that, and maybe you even believe it. But you better watch your step with him. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

 

Annie gapes at her. “Shirley, are you.. Are you warning me off Jeff?”

 

With a sigh, Shirley sets down the rag she was using on the counter and looks at Annie. “Just... be careful with him. That boy’s not used to rejection, and he’s got enough issues without getting himself all twisted over you. Especially if you’re serious about Troy.”

 

“I am,” Annie says with resolve, and Shirley nods.

 

“Good.” Something sly crosses her face. “Talking about all our friends from school gave me an idea. You should have a party! It'd be the perfect excuse for all of us to get together. And that includes Troy. I bet Jeff would like it if you invited Britta.”

 

The pit of Annie’s stomach goes hollow. “Britta? Are she and Jeff...”

 

Shirley hums as she resumes wiping down her counter. “Not right now. But you know, she’s the whole reason he started our study group. He wanted a way to get closer to her. I always thought they’d end up together. It just makes sense.”

 

Annie nods when Shirley peers up at her. “Isn’t that… I mean, isn’t she Troy’s ex? Wouldn’t that be awkward for them?”

 

“Please,” Shirley scoffs. “What those two did barely constitutes dating. Troy only paid her any mind whenever Abed didn’t need him, and Britta settled for the crumbs, well, for her own complicated Britta reasons. Troy finally realized how unfair he was being, and that was that.” Some of Annie’s concern must be reflected on her face, because Shirley hastens to add, “But he’s grown up a lot since then. And those months apart helped Abed be more independent, too.”

 

Annie tells Shirley she’ll think about it, but the more she does, the more it makes sense. Of course she should have a party. And for once in her life, she actually has a decent amount of friends to invite.

 

The thought cheers her through the rest of the workday.

 

* * *

 

 

Annie steps into the Vatican with a stack of still-warm-from-the-printer invitations in her arms and a sense of purpose.

 

“Annie!” Britta calls from behind the bar and Troy and Abed turn from where they’d been talking to wave Annie over. “I keep hearing all these awesome stories about you hanging out with these guys. You and I should do something.”

 

“Hi, Britta! Abed. Troy,” she says with a smile and a flutter of her lashes, before turning back. “I’d love to hang out with you, Britta. Actually, I just found out that I have a mutual friend with you all. Shirley Bennett—she works in the food court in my office complex.”

 

Troy frowns. “I haven’t talked to Shirley since I’ve  been back.”

 

“Well, prepare yourself for a guilt trip when you do see her then,” Britta warns.

 

“Britta!”

 

“Annie, you don’t understand.” Britta shakes her head. “I love Shirley, but she’s a mom. She knows how to wield guilt and passive aggression like a weapon, and she doesn’t hesitate to use them either.”

 

“Britta’s right,” Abed says. “Along with a quick temper, those are Shirley’s most defining flaws. But I like that about her. It keeps her from being two-dimensional.”

 

Annie nods like she understands what Abed is saying and turns back to the others. “Anyway, Shirley was telling me how she hadn’t seen you all in a while and she talked me into having a party!” She hands them each an invitation. “It’ll be a small gathering at my place. I’ll provide snacks and drinks and you guys just bring yourselves!”

 

“Nice! I’m in,” Troy says, giving her a high-five, and her heart tumbles in glee.

 

“Great! Abed, Britta? Can I count on you guys, too?”

 

Abed nods. “I’m not one for parties usually, but since I'll know everyone there, I’ll come.” When Troy cheers, the two of them do some weird palm- and chest-slapping handshake.

 

Britta sighs. “I’m on the schedule that night, but… You know what? Screw it! I cover for Quendra all the time; she can return the favor this once.” She grins at Annie. “I’m so excited to have another woman in the group, you don’t even understand. I mean, like I said, Shirley is great, but she’s a _mom._ We don’t exactly have a ton in common.”

 

But Annie is struck by what Britta just said. “I’m… I’m part of the group?” A knot builds in her throat as she looks at them one by one.

 

The three of them glance at each other and Troy nods. “I don’t see why not. You’re cool, you’re friends with all of us—even Jeff, and he’s the hardest one to win over.” He smiles at her. “Of course, you’re in the group.”

 

“You guys!” she says, blinking back tears. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

 

“Wow, really?” Britta scoffs, but she’s smiling, too. “You need to hang out with a better class of people, Annie.”

 

Annie grins shyly at them. “Would it be too soon if I asked for a group hug?”

 

Without answering, Troy embraces her and, after few seconds, Abed follows suit. There’s a clattering of heeled boots and then Britta is there, too, and Annie’s heart all but glows in her chest.

 

“Alright, break it up,” a voice calls, “before I have to get the hose.” When Annie opens her eyes, Jeff is grinning at them. “This is a family establishment.”

 

Britta scowls at him as she makes her way back around the bar. “Just because you like to pretend you don’t have feelings, doesn’t mean we all need to be closed-off douchebags, too.”

 

“Ah, there’s that winning charm,” Jeff says dryly. “Remind me again why we’re friends?”

 

As the two of them begin to snipe at each other, Abed regains his seat, but Annie stays close to Troy’s side. He doesn’t seem to mind, keeping one arm around her back.

 

“Don’t mind Jeff and Britta,” he tells her. “They’re always like that.”

 

Abed nods. “It’s because they never got to resolve their sexual tension.”

 

It reminds Annie what Shirley had told her earlier that morning. “Really? Never?”

 

“I thought it would happen while we were all taking Spanish 102, or what I used to call the back nine of season one, but… There was never any inciting event.” Abed shrugs. “When Spanish ended, we weren’t hanging out as much as a unit and I guess the distance helped them avoid addressing it.”

 

Annie tilts her head back to look at Troy. “That doesn’t bother you? You and Britta used to… Didn’t you?”

 

With a shake of his head, Troy smiles. “It’s really nothing. By this point, they’re more like bickering siblings. Who are maybe a little attracted to each other.” He grimaces. “Ugh. I just grossed myself out.”

 

She shares the sentiment and frowns, turning back to Jeff and Britta in time to see him pick up one of the invitations on the counter, roll his eyes, and drop it again. Letting out an indignant gasp, she says, “What? Is my party not cool enough for Jeff Winger?”

 

Jeff, caught, nudges the paper away from himself. “Probably not,” he says, grinning when Britta whips her bar towel at him. “Did you let Shirley talk you into this? I hope you don’t have a pool.”

 

Annie tilts her head. “I don’t. But why would that matter?”

 

“Are you Christian?” Abed asks, and Annie pulls back in shock. “It doesn’t matter to us. I’m Muslim, Jeff’s agnostic, Britta’s atheist. Troy was raised Jehovah’s Witness, which is technically Christian—”

 

“Without all the fun parts of Christianity, like celebrating Christmas,” Troy complains.

 

“But Shirley’s Christian and has been known to lure unsuspecting non-Christians into pool-party baptisms.”

 

“That’s horrible!” Part of Annie doesn’t want to believe it’s true, that her closest new friend could behave like that… but some of the more deceptive ideas for Annie’s quest for Troy _had_ come from Shirley, after all. “I’m Jewish, but she doesn’t know that yet. Thank you for warning me.”

 

From that point, the rest fall into a spiral of reminiscence, telling Annie about their time as a study group, teasing each other. Normally Annie would feel like an outsider, but they make sure to include her, and she wonders if it can really be true. Can she really come in without all their shared experience and fall in with them this naturally?

 

She’s so consumed by this and their stories, that she doesn’t realize Jeff never gave her a firm answer about her party until he starts to leave.

 

“I should go, too,” she says, ungluing herself from Troy’s side, where she’d stayed all night. She hugs Troy and Abed goodnight and waves at Britta before she rushes to catch up with Jeff. “Jeff, wait!”

 

He pauses in the doorway until she walks up, then ushers her out, his hand warm against her back. It drops immediately, and they walk in silence to her car. “Milady,” he says, pulling the door open for her, but she turns to him instead of climbing into the driver’s seat.

 

“You never said if you were coming to my party or not.”

 

Jeff sighs, looking out into the night. “I don’t think I should.”

 

“What? Why not? All of your friends will be there.” She says with a teasing smile, “ _Britta_ will be there.”

 

Scowling at her, he asks, “Why should that matter?”

 

“Oh, uh, Shirley told me that, you know, you had a thing for Britta.” With a put-upon sigh, she rolls her eyes. “That she always thought you two would end up together. We’re friends, right? I thought I would give you a little nudge in the right direction.”

 

He stares at her in fraught silence, jaw clenching and a vein in his forehead throbbing. In the darkness, his eyes are unreadable and Annie’s nerves jangle. He nods, mouth grim. “Well, speaking as one friend to another, if you want Troy to notice that you’re throwing yourself at him, you’re going to have to be a lot less subtle.” When she sucks in a breath, he smirks, but it looks nasty under the streetlights. “I know, it’s hard to believe that anyone may see what you’re doing as _subtle,_ but Troy’s thicker than most.”

 

“That’s mean.”

 

“No, it’s honest,” Jeff says. “And you want another bit of honesty? This little fairytale you’ve clearly built up in your head, where you follow Troy here and make him fall in love with you? It’s not real. It’s a fantasy. _He’s_ a fantasy. You don’t…” He shakes his head. “You don’t even really know him. And yet you think he’s just going to follow some script you’ve written in your head? People aren’t playthings, Annie. You can just manipulate them into falling in line with what you want.”

 

“I didn’t follow—I’m not manip...” Angry tears poke at the back of her eyes, but she holds them back by sheer force of will. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you being like this?”

 

Barking out a laugh, Jeff rocks back on his heels, arms crossed. “You’re infuriating, you know that? And I’m…” He stops himself short and shakes his head. “What am I doing?” Dropping his arms to his sides with a pained sigh, he says, “Being around you is starting to turn me into someone I don’t want to be. So I think I need some space to put things in perspective. I hope you have fun at your party. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you around, Annie.”

  
As he walks away, she bites her tongue to keep from calling out to him, angry and sad and, above all, confused.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which the au gets a little bit inverted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so... the plan was to finish this story up with the 2nd half. That didn't happen so much. There will be at least one more chapter to go from here.

Annie’s grateful when Shirley takes the reins on party-planning. After her weird confrontation with Jeff in the parking lot the other night, Annie’s heart just isn’t in it. She hasn’t seen, texted, or talked to him since, but that doesn’t stop their last conversation from running on a loop in her head whenever things get too quiet.

 

She still doesn’t understand what changed. Not even ten minutes before, he’d been laughing and amiable, but as soon as they were alone… No, she realizes, as soon as she’d mentioned  _ Britta,  _ it had been like flipping a switch. Was Jeff really that raw over Britta? The thought gives Annie a pang in her stomach that she tries to tell herself is sympathy. 

 

She’s always been pretty decent at lying to herself.

 

Case in point, as she awaits the arrival of her guests, she’s doing a bang-up job convincing herself she’s excited. Shirley’s buzzing around Annie’s kitchen, setting out the last of the snacks, while Annie paces by the front door. 

 

“Annie, a watched pot never boils,” Shirley calls.

 

With a groan, Annie stalks over to where her iPod is docked, scrolling through the playlist she’d made specifically for tonight. “Of course it does. Once it reaches the proper temperature, it has no other choice,” Annie says crossly, then sighs when Shirley gives an indignant sniff. “Sorry, Shirley. Nerves.” 

 

No sooner does Shirley hum in forgiveness than someone rings the doorbell, and she looks to Annie with an ill-concealed air of triumph. 

 

Annie wipes her damp palms on her skirt and answers the door, grinning when she finds Troy and Abed standing there. “Welcome! Come on in, guys.”

 

Troy hands her an open pack of Oreos. “Sorry. We got you this to thank you for having us, but we got hungry in the car.”

 

Bemused, Annie thanks him and takes it into the kitchen, where Shirley rolls her eyes as she takes the package from Annie so she can arrange the leftover cookies on a plate.

 

Troy and Abed have taken over her couch and flip through the channels of her deluxe cable package. “Man, Annie, if we’d known you had such a sweet set-up, we would’ve been over like that first week you were in town,” Troy says, then pauses with a sheepish smile. “And because we like you, of course.”

 

She grins at him, but gets distracted by a knock. This time it’s Britta and she hands Annie an unopened bottle of Stoli and looks her right in the eye to say, “If anyone asks where you got this, it wasn’t from me.”

 

Annie nods solemnly as she tucks it into one arm. “Come in. Troy and Abed just discovered the wonders of 1500 cable channels, so I may have inadvertently adopted them.” Dropping the bottle off on the breakfast bar that forms the barrier between the kitchen and living room, Annie nods. “I think that’s everyone.”

 

Shirley pauses as she offers Abed the tray of cucumber sandwiches. “What about Jeff?”

 

“Oh, I don’t think he’s coming,” Annie says airily, waving off their concern. “He didn’t seem interested.”

 

“Classic Jeff.” Britta rolls her eyes. “Blowing off his friends when a better offer comes along. What a jerk.”

 

Abed tilts his head, eyes narrowed in thought. “That’s not just Classic Jeff, that’s Vintage Jeff. Jeff 1.0.” He stares at Annie and it’s almost an accusation when he says, “I hope he’s not emotionally regressing.”

 

Britta nods. “That’s a very good point, Abed. I’m glad to see I’m rubbing off on you.” To Annie, she explains, “I’m still taking classes to become a therapist. I only tend bar to make ends meet.”

 

With a shake of his head, Abed says, “It’s not a therapy thing. It’s a common trope in storytelling, usually to show someone how far they’ve grown from who they used to be, which I feel we’ve already leaned on pretty heavily. But it’s either that or character derailment, and I don’t even want to consider the latter.”

 

Britta slumps back in her chair, arms crossed. “I knew that.”

 

Troy looks up from his phone with a frown of concern. “Hey, man, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Maybe he already had plans or something he couldn’t get out of.” He offers Abed a smile. “If Jeff’s character hasn’t derailed yet, it won’t now.”

 

It’s apparently the right thing to say, because Abed lets the matter drop and turns back to flipping through the channels. 

 

Annie shares a puzzled smile with Shirley, who seems just as lost, and they offer to fix everyone drinks. A while later, Annie’s handing Britta hers when the doorbell buzzes one last time.

 

Jeff stands beyond the threshold with a sheepish grin when the door opens. “Room for one more?” he asks, and Annie takes it for the apology it is and lets him in.

 

“Look who I found!” she calls to the group.

 

“Jeffrey!” Shirley steps up to hug him, saying something low that Jeff nods along with. When she pulls back, she pats his arm, bustling into the kitchen to pour him a drink.

 

Jeff greets everyone individually—a teasing remark to Britta, trading finger guns with Abed, and a weighty nod exchanged with Troy. Something about that nod seems off to Annie, but then Shirley’s doing another round with her tray of snack foods and Annie gets swept up in the by-play of the entire group’s dynamics.

 

Watching the five of them interact, Annie can’t help but wonder what her life might have been if she’d been there with them, attending community college, forming this nice little tight-knit family. Maybe she and Troy would’ve even organically come together at some point. They might even be married, or at least engaged, by now. 

 

Like she has so many times in the past, Annie imagines her wedding. She pictures her white fluffy dress that makes her look like a princess, her friends and family smiling as she stands beneath the chuppah. And facing her? It’s Troy, with Abed standing just outside the canopy. For once, she imagines a bridal party with actual attendants, as Shirley and Britta stand there in blue taffeta behind her. As she smiles through her veil at Troy, she realizes she hasn’t seen Jeff. The rabbi starts the ceremony, but Annie is determined, looking through the crowd of faceless forms. She can’t find him anywhere and her heart starts to race and she can’t draw a breath and— 

 

_ “Annie!” _

 

She snaps out of it and calms when the first face she sees is Jeff’s, even if it is drawn with concern. “Sorry,” she says to him, then to everyone. “What’d I miss?”

 

Making more of an effort to engage in the conversation, Annie doesn’t think much about the daydream. Instead the night goes by in a blur of drinks and laughter and good-natured ribbing. Troy and Abed lobby for a game of charades and the rest of them agree as long as they can all four be on a team together against the other two.

 

Troy and Abed are easily dominating the game, when Abed pulls a slip of paper, smiles and nods, and starts to pantomime. 

 

“Okay, two words,” Troy says. “Film.” When Abed points at Annie, Troy frowns. “ _ Annie _ ? That’s one word, dude.” Abed shakes his head, pointing from Annie to Britta, then back. Troy groans in frustration. “Give me more.”

 

With a sigh, Abed points to Jeff.

 

Troy’s mind spins. “Uh, okay, guy, man, handsome, lawyer.” Abed nods at that and Troy grins. “Okay, lawyer, what else?” He follows Abed’s finger back to Britta. “Woman, girl, bartender, the worst—” He ignores Britta’s half-hearted,  _ Hey!,  _ “ —blonde.  _ Legally Blonde _ !” he calls, jumping up to do a victory dance when Abed nods. 

 

Shirley sighs as she clears the timer. “We almost had them that time,” she grumbles as she makes another tally mark under Team Trobed  on the notepad where she’s keeping score.

 

But Britta’s frowning in confusion. “Abed, why did you point to Annie originally? That doesn’t make sense. She’s not a lawyer or blonde.”

 

Annie giggles nervously. “Yeah, Abed. That was kind of misleading.”

 

He frowns at them. “It’s not obvious? Annie’s situation is reminiscent of the movie.”

 

Scrambling to her feet, Shirley asks in a shrill voice, “Does anyone need their drink refreshed?”

 

Britta holds her glass up but otherwise isn’t deterred. “How so? I mean, she moved across the country, but Elle was trying to get Warner back, not starting a new career. At least, not initially.” When everyone stares at her, she hikes her shoulders up around her ears. “What? I’ve seen movies! And it’s surprisingly feminist.” 

 

Jeff leans back with a grin. “Yeah, but for you to be able to list off actual names like that… Obviously, you’ve seen it a few times.”

 

“So what if I have?” Britta says defensively, then waves him off. “Abed, are you saying Annie chased a— ” She glances at Troy, then back to Annie with a raised brow.

 

“Chased a what?” Troy asks. “You can’t just stop there, Britta! Annie, what did you chase here?”

 

“Oh, well, Patashnik & Hickey offered me a job, and—” She stops herself and shakes her head. “Actually, no. I contacted them. I’ve been lying the whole time, because the truth is… what I was really chasing was...” Annie swallows hard and meets Troy’s eyes and she can feel her smile shaking at the edges. “Happiness,” she says simply. “I was lonely and miserable in New York. I didn’t have friends or a life, anything to look forward to. All I had was my job. When I ran into you in New York, Troy, I was in the midst of a panic attack because I had just had an epiphany. I realized I hadn’t thought about being happy in so long, I couldn’t even remember what it felt like. 

 

“And then you talked about Greendale and you said—do you remember?—that people were happier here, and I knew I had to be where the happy was. And I don’t regret it, because I… I love it here. I love you guys,” she says looking around the room. “I love my new life. And I have you to thank for it, Troy.”

 

He looks overwhelmed as she holds his gaze, before he too glances at all his—their—friends. “That’s… amazing, Annie. I don’t think I’ve ever inspired anyone like that and… Thank you, for telling me. I wish you’d done it sooner.”

 

She flushes. “I didn’t want you to think I was crazy. It sounds a little… I don’t know…”

 

“Brave,” Jeff says, and when she looks over, he’s watching her with an unfathomable smile. “I understand now.” And his words have a gravity to them that gives Annie pause.

 

With a nod, she smiles at him, although she can’t help but feel she’s missing something.

 

The party peters out after that, Shirley leaving first, followed shortly by Britta. When Annie walks out of the kitchen after putting away the last of the leftovers, Abed stands alone in the entryway.

 

“Where’s Troy?” she asks.

 

He points out the back patio door and she sees Jeff and Troy standing outside, engaged in an intense conversation, if the unexpectedly solemn look on Troy’s face is anything to go by. While she and Abed watch, Jeff pats Troy on the shoulder and turns to face the yard as Troy walks back inside. 

 

Troy gives Abed a tight smile. “Ready, buddy?” Abed nods, and Troy hesitates before turning to Annie. “Thanks for having us,” he says and there’s something in his eyes, something new she hasn’t seen before, and her heart flutters.

 

“Of course. Anytime.” She hugs him briefly and sees them out the door. When she turns, Jeff’s still on the patio, but he’s watching her through the glass now. She slides the door open to join him, staring out at the horizon. “Thank you for coming,” she says.

 

He’s quiet for a minute before he draws a deep breath. “You should know, Troy was texting me before I showed up. He could tell how sad you were I wasn’t here. He, uh, he really cares about you.” He doesn’t look when Annie turns to him in shock. “I was in the car, trying to talk myself out of coming, but when he sent that…” He shake his head. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been an ass. The worst kind of ass.”

 

“It’s okay.”

 

“It’s really not,” he says through a self-deprecating laugh, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I haven’t really dated, formally, in a long time. Like, ask a woman out, pay for her meal, that kind of thing. Most of my long-term girlfriends have evolved from hook-ups or friends with benefit. But the majority of my relationships never progress beyond that.” He catches her gaze. “I didn’t realize until everything went wrong that I hadn’t really made it clear that the festival was a date.”

 

The thought stops Annie short and she stares at him in dawning horror. If he thought it was a date… And then Vaughn… “Oh. Oh, Jeff,” she says, the words thick as remorse cascades through her. “I’m so sorry. You must think I’m a monster.”

 

“No,” he says, then pauses. “Okay, yes at first. But then you said that you were happy we were friends and I realized what had happened.”

 

She nods. “So the other night at the Vatican…?”

 

With a sigh, he looks away. “I don’t know. You were snuggled up cozy with Troy and then asking me about Britta and I… I was a little hurt and I took a swipe at you. I’m sorry.” 

 

Shirley’s warning the other day rolls through her mind, about Jeff not being used to rejection, and she understands. “I think we’re both properly repentant,” she says, touching his arm fleetingly. “Let’s just put it behind us.” She offers her hand. “Resolved?”

 

He wraps his hand around hers, not shaking it, only maintaining contact. “Resolved,” he agrees, his voice deep and quiet in the darkness. 

 

Annie’s heart races and her breath catches as she stares up at him, goosebumps prickling up and down her arm. Clearing her throat, she jerks her hand back, curling it into a fist at her side. “So what were you and Troy talking about before he left? It looked serious.”

 

Jeff hums. “Oh, you know, sports, cars, girls. The usual,” he says with a smirk. 

 

She rolls her eyes and sniffs. “Fine, don’t tell me.” But she ruins the haughty tone with a jaw-cracking yawn.

 

Wincing, he checks his watch. “And that’s my cue to leave.” But he doesn’t move. “We’re friends, right?” he asks, and she recognizes the thread of vulnerability, of insecurity, running through the question, because she feels the same way.

 

“Of course,” she says and walks him out with a hug.

 

But when she lies down that night, she stares at her ceiling for hours, wondering why that word _ —friend— _ seems so inadequate now.

 

* * *

 

Annie bops around the house tidying up the few things that were missed after the party while her Sunday morning cleaning playlist fills the townhome. When the knock comes, she glances at the soft t-shirt-and-shorts pajama set she’s still wearing and considers ignoring it. But whoever it is, they’re insistent and knock again.

 

“Coming!” she yells after she pauses the music. Obviously the person didn’t hear her, because they’re knocking again and Annie’s racing to the door, and it better be an emergency if this person is so determined. “Yes?” she asks crossly before she realizes it’s Troy standing there. She blinks. “Oh. Troy.”

 

He’s doing his own share of blinking as he takes in Annie’s outfit or, rather, lack of. “Annie. I’m… Sorry. I’m sorry. I just… Can I come in?”

 

“Of course. Is something wrong? Is it Abed?”

 

That makes Troy smile a little. “No, he’s fine. I’m… Annie, would you like to go to dinner tonight?”

 

A million butterflies take flight in her stomach and Annie chokes on the air. Surreptitiously, she pinches her thigh and winces, so at least she knows she’s not dreaming. “I’d love that,” she manages in a breathy voice, grinning when Troy does.

 

“Cool. I’ll come by and pick you up at six, okay?”

 

“Okay,” she agrees, still grinning. “At six.”

 

“Cool,” he says again, then jerks a thumb at the door. “I’m gonna go.”

 

“Okay.”

 

He shakes his head and throws her one last smile before walking out, and Annie gives it thirty seconds before she squeals and dances in place. She fumbles for her phone and her hands are shaking too badly to type, so she calls Shirley instead.

 

“Annie? You okay?” Shirley answers and Annie can only laugh at that.

 

“Troy was just here. We’re going to dinner tonight.” And now it’s Shirley’s turn to squeal while Annie continues to dance. 

 

“This is the day the Lord has  _ made _ !” Shirley cries. “Let us rejoice and be glad! I honestly don’t know which news is more exciting, yours or Britta’s. Although I’m more enthusiastic than she is, I swear.”

 

Annie slows to a halt. “Britta has news, too? That’s great!”

 

Shirley sighs lustily. “Yes, it is! I’ve been waiting  _ years  _ for Jeff to finally get up enough nerve to ask Britta out. But now they’re getting together and you and Troy… Oh, it makes me believe in love again.”

 

The air is sucked out of the room and Annie’s head spins at the sudden loss. She sits down hard on the floor. “Britta? And Jeff? They’re dating?”

 

“Yes! Can you believe it? He called her up after the party last night and asked her. That speech you gave about happiness… it must have inspired both Jeff and Troy to go out and seize their own.” Shirley hums. “I knew you were going to change everyone’s lives, Annie. And you did, so much for the better.”

 

Annie goes numb and, at some point, she must end the call, although it can’t have been gracefully, and she sits in her living room, staring at nothing. Two minutes ago, she was  _ happy _ , everything she’d ever dreamed of was coming true, and now that feeling is gone, blown away like smoke.

 

She can’t help but wonder, is this what happiness is like for everyone? You get a small taste and then it’s pulled from your grasp? Or is there something wrong with her? Some genetic trait or missing link that no matter what she has or wins or loves, she’ll never be satisfied and always want more? Is she really so selfish as to wish for her friends’ unhappiness just because them being together, what, makes her feel some weird, nebulous, bad emotion she can’t even name?

 

Eventually, she moves from the spot on the floor and gets ready for her date with Troy, trying not to think about anything beyond the two of them.

 

Troy looks properly stunned by the end product when he comes to pick her up and that alone is enough to spark off her excitement again. “Wow, Annie,” he says, shaking his head as he takes in her red dress with its sweetheart neckline. “Sometimes I really have trouble remembering who you used to be, because I could never imagine that Annie Edison wearing something like this.”

 

She laughs and blushes a little. “That Annie Edison never would have, even if she wanted to. It would have drawn way too much attention.”

 

“It’s definitely drawing mine,” he says and offers his hand for the short walk to his car.

 

At the restaurant, some stuffy place with cloth napkins that Annie wouldn’t expect Troy to know the name of let alone patronize, they sit side-by-side in the round booth, casually joking around about the pretentious menu and the waiter. It doesn’t feel much different than hanging out with their friends and Annie is strangely relieved by that.

 

“Sorry,” he says with a grin. “This place is kind of terrible, huh?”

 

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. I would’ve been happy going anywhere. You didn’t need to pick something so fancy.”

 

He nods. “Well, you know, it felt like a serious place for a serious, adult relationship. Right?”

 

The uncertainty in his eyes kills her and she nods. “Right. Although I hope it won’t be too serious,” she teases. “I like you the way you are, Troy. You don’t have to pretend with me.”

 

“I like you the way you are, too, Annie. I'm glad I'm getting to know you better,” he says with a smile and all the angst of the morning melts away.

 

After a few courses, she’s feeling so positively cheerful, that she even says, “So what’s up with Jeff totally copying you?”

 

He gives her a puzzled smile. “What do you mean?”

 

“You know, you asked me out and he asked Britta out. Or, I guess, it was technically the other way around. So you copied him,” she says, nudging his arm with her elbow. But Troy’s just staring at her. “You… You knew Jeff and Britta are going on a date, right?”

 

“Uh,  _ now  _ I do. What… He asked her out before I asked you? When?”

 

Annie chuckles nervously. “Um, last night, after the party, I think. Why does it matter?”

 

But Troy’s nodding to himself. “That’s why. That’s why he did it. I couldn’t understand why he’d tell me to ask you out, but… it was to get Britta to himself.”

 

“Excuse me,  _ Jeff told you _ to ask me out?”

 

He waves off her concern. “Well, not in so many words, but he kept telling me how much you liked me and how happy you seemed around me, and it’d really be a shame if I let you slip through my fingers. That bastard.”

 

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Annie frowns. “The whole reason Jeff wasn’t going to come to my party was because I  _ hinted  _ he might harbor feelings for Britta and he got mad at me. Why would he then talk you into asking me out so he could get to Britta? Plus, you and Britta are over, right? He didn’t need you out of the way, because you weren’t in it.”

 

Troy’s anger deflates as he thinks about it. “I guess you’re right,” he admits at length. “But then, why? What’s his game?”

 

But Annie’s thinking about the night before, when he’d looked at her and said,  _ “I understand now,”  _ and suddenly she does, too. The big, gallant dummy thought he was helping her get the happiness she wanted. “Troy,” she says, not quite certain of her direction, “if Jeff had never brought it up… would you have asked me out? Are you even interested in me, romantically?”

 

He rubs the back of his neck. “I don’t know that I would have. I mean, you’re great,” he adds hastily, “and you’re very, insanely hot. I hope you know that. But I don’t know.” He shrugs. “I don’t really see us as anything more than friends. Is that okay?”

 

His big brown puppy-dog eyes pull at her heart and, while it stings, she understands. And the fact that it doesn’t devastate her, doesn’t break her heart or even bend it, tells her all she needs to know about her feelings for Troy. “It’s more than okay,” she tells him. “I think this is how it’s meant to be, and I… I just let my crush on you distract me from dealing with my real problems.” She laughs a little hysterically, blinking back tears. “God, what an expensive epiphany.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll still pay for dinner,” Troy says, oblivious to her real meaning. “I invited you after all.” But he frowns again. “I still don’t understand why Jeff did it. Do you?”

 

Annie bites her lip and considers Troy. She would really like to talk it all through with someone. Normally it would be Shirley, but she’s going to be way more upset over the Troy thing than Annie is. Obviously Britta is out, and she can’t even imagine discussing it with Abed. “I think I might know,” she tells him, and it all comes pouring out of her.

 

Troy looks blown away when she’s done and shakes his head. “Wow, Jeff must really like you.” At Annie’s stunned expression, he shrugs. “I’ve known that dude a long time, and the only time he puts in that much effort is for people he cares about, like his friends. And even then, it’s usually reluctant at first.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense. If Jeff likes me so much, why didn’t he just tell me that?”

 

“I don’t know,” Troy says with a smile. “Why didn’t you tell me you liked me?”

 

She freezes and then slumps back in the booth with a nod. “Fair point. So he cares about me so much that he’d rather see me happy with you, instead of…” she murmurs, mostly to herself, then to Troy, “But why ask Britta out?”

 

“That’s a good point,” he says. “Should we warn her? That’s not cool if he’s dating her while he has feelings for someone else.”

 

“I think we all need to stop interfering with one another’s love lives.” Annie sighs in exasperation. “Everything’s enough of a mess as it is.”

 

After splitting a molten lava cake and Troy’s minor meltdown at the total cost of the dinner, Annie asks him to take her home. He insists on walking her up to her door and it makes her smile wistfully when she thinks about how many times she’d imagined this moment.

 

She unlocks the door and turns back to him, fiddling with her keys. “Troy, I know we agreed we would be just friends, but can I… Do you mind if… ?” 

 

He steps closer, his hand finding the curve of her hip, and her breath hitches as he leans in and catches her lips with this. She lets her eyes flutter closed and her lips part slightly beneath his, waiting for The Moment, the one she’d dreamed of. Because, even now, after it’s clear he’s not interested and they’ll only be friends, she expects fireworks, heat, she’d even settle for goosebumps, but… Nothing. It’s just mildly pleasant and chaste. 

 

She leans back and searches Troy’s eyes, but they reflect the same disappointment she feels. And she knows they’ll be fine. With a hug, she tells him goodnight and goes inside.

 

As soon as the door clicks behind her, it all comes crashing down and she slides to the floor. It’s over. She’d thrown away her life in New York, her future, to chase a specter of happiness, and now it’s gone. What is she supposed to do? Should she moved back to New York? Go to grad school? But she’s made real friends here and New York no longer feels like home. 

 

And when she thinks about grad school… the same panic she’d felt when she’d read the acceptance letter comes scratching and Annie would give anything, do anything, to make it stop. Which is exactly, she realizes as she leans her head against the door, how she ended up in this situation in the first place.

 

So clearly, she decides with a nod, she needs to overcome this if she’s going to move forward, no matter where that “forward” ends up being. 

 

Annie pulls up her health insurance’s member website and scrolls through a list of local clinicians who deal with substance abuse and anxiety. After researching a few names, she decides on one and sets a reminder on her phone to call and schedule an appointment with this Francesca Dart, MA, LCPC, at the earliest possible convenience.

 

* * *

 

Annie doesn’t know how to break the news to Shirley so she avoids her on Monday. She works through her normal morning coffee break and her lunch, but in the early afternoon, Shirley gets tired of waiting and texts.

 

**Shirley:** I KNOW you’re not gonna make me come find you!

 

With a sigh, Annie texts that she’ll be right down and slowly makes her way to the ground floor. Shirley has already staked out a table and has a sandwich ready for Annie. 

 

Annie takes a seat and thanks Shirley for the sandwich, barely unwrapping it before Shirley pulls it out of her hands and sets it back down. Annie stares at it mournfully, only now realizing how hungry she is.

 

“Soooooo? How did it go last night? Was he a gentleman?” Shirley asks, clasping her hands over her heart. “Did he kiss you at the end of the night? Was it romantic?”

 

“The restaurant was really nice,” Annie hedges. “And he did kiss me.”

 

Shirley squeals and taps on the table. “Details, girl! Details!”

 

With a sympathetic smile, Annie takes Shirley’s hand in hers. “I have some news, and it’s not going to be easy,” she says in a calm voice, and tells Shirley all about the night before.

 

By the time Annie finishes, Shirley’s shaking her head. “Mm-mm, nope, I don’t buy it. I’m not letting you give up so easily. This is just a set-back on the road to love.” She gives Annie a smile that contains more than a tinge of condescension. “Sweetie, are you sure you’re not sabotaging this because you’re afraid? I would understand that.”

 

“Shirley, no! You heard what I said—we kissed and… nothing, nada, zilch. Troy and I aren’t compatible that way.” Annie shakes her head. “I’m giving up on the idea of being with him romantically, because it’s not in the cards. He and I are only meant to be friends.”

 

“You don’t mean that.”

 

Annie leans forward. “Shirley, look at me.” She smiles when Shirley meets her eyes. “I mean it. I really do. Troy and I will never happen. We have to let him go.  _ You  _ have to let him go.”

 

Shirley stares at her for a long beat. “Well, if giving up on love, on Troy, on everything we’ve done together… if that’s what makes you happy…” She stands, pulling her hand from Annie’s. “I should get back to my sandwiches. I’ll talk to you later.”

 

“Shirley!” Annie calls, but gets waved off. She grabs her sandwich and wraps it back up, although her appetite is gone now. With a heavy heart, she walks towards the elevators and steps into the first empty car. 

 

As the doors slide shut, an arm stops them and suddenly Jeff is right there, in her space, in his expensive dark suit and warm cloud of cologne, and all the realizations she had the night before come screaming back.

 

He blinks at her as the doors close behind him and the elevator ascends. “Annie.”

 

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, Annie smiles. “Jeff.” They stand in tense silence for a second and she hates it and frantically thinks of anything to say only to blurt, “How was your date with Britta?”

 

His jaw tightens and he shuts his eyes on a groan,  _ “Shirley.” _ With a sigh, he looks at her, or rather through her, and her heart spasms. Have things deteriorated so much that he can’t even  _ look  _ at her? “It was good. Kind of weird at first, but normal, too, if that makes sense. How was yours? You know, with Troy?”

 

The elevator jerks to a stop on her floor and the doors slide open and Annie steps into the opening so they won’t close. “Revelatory,” she says, smiling as he frowns.

 

His gaze sharpens and it feels like the first time he’s actually  _ seeing  _ her since he stepped into the elevator. “What does that mea—?”

 

“Jeffrey!” Craig Pelton, the practice administrator and Annie’s boss, calls in delight as he walks towards the elevator and he barely spares her a glance. “Oh, and Annie. Are you two…?”

 

“We’re friends,” Jeff says, then nods at Annie. “See you later. Are you coming, Craig?”

 

Craig gives Jeff a smile that can only be described as coy. “Well, that wasn’t my original plan, but if you’re okay with going do—” But the doors close before he can finish and he glares at Annie, who now stands in the hallway.

 

“Whoops!” she say with a bright smile. “I better get back to it.”

 

At her desk, her phone shows one new notification.

 

**Jeff:** from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU

 

It makes her smile the rest of the afternoon and she thinks it may just be okay after all.

 

* * *

 

Annie leaves her new therapist’s office feeling lighter than she has in months. Francesca, or Frankie as she invited Annie to call her, is tough but fair, a little domineering but sensible, and Annie enjoys their first session. Granted, they only cover a bit of Annie’s history and her reasons for making the appointment, but… It’s a step in the right direction.

 

Walking to her car in the practice’s parking lot, Annie gets distracted checking her purse for her keys and bumps into someone. “Oh! Sorry!” She looks up and gasps. “Jeff?! What are you doing here?”

 

He’s as shocked as she is and rocks back on his heels. “Oh, I, uh, I have an appointment,” he says with a nod towards the practice. “You, too?”

 

She nods. “Today was my first time. Well, first in Greendale. I was supposed to continue therapy once I left rehab, but... “ She trails off, shaking her head impatiently. “Sorry, spending an hour talking about myself apparently wasn’t enough.” She shifts her weight from foot to foot and peers up at him through her lashes. “We never got to finish our conversation in the elevators the other day. Do you wanna grab a coffee or something?”

 

He glances from her to the building and back again before sighing. “Raincheck? I’m already late.”

 

“Oh. Of course. Bye, Jeff.” 

 

She stands there and watches him walk away, waving when he glances back. Frustration wells up inside her. Since the night of her party, Jeff has felt so distant. She wants to tell him she knows what he did, to see his face while she yells at him for being a noble idiot, and thank him for trying to make her happy. She doesn’t even know if anyone has told him that she’s given up on Troy, and it doesn’t seem like news that should come in a text. 

 

She misses him. It doesn’t help that Shirley still isn’t talking to her and she hasn’t stopped by the Vatican in over a week.

 

Aggravated with the whole situation, Annie swings into her driver’s seat and pulls her phone out before she even closes the door. Pulling up her conversation with Jeff, she sends him a text.

 

**Annie:** I would really like to talk to you. Soon.

 

There’s no immediate answer, not that Annie’s surprised given he just walked into a session with his therapist. But the rational explanation does nothing to cure her antsy fidgeting, so she slams her door closed and points her car towards the Vatican. Annie has been avoiding Britta to combat her own discomfort, and it’s not fair to Britta, who only ever expressed interest in being Annie’s friend. It’s not her fault she’s caught in the crossfire of the weird Troy-Annie-Jeff situation.

 

The bar is mostly empty when Annie walks in and Britta’s leaning over an open textbook, tapping the page with the end of a pen. Her face brightens when she sees Annie. 

 

“Hey, Annie,” she says, throwing her pen down  “What’ll it be?”

 

Annie orders a soda and nods to the textbook while Britta grabs a glass. “Are you studying? If you need someone to quiz you, I’d be happy to help.”

 

Britta sets the glass on a drink napkin. “I might take you up on that, but for now, I need a break. So what’s new and exciting in your life?” she asks with a teasing smile, waggling her eyebrows.

 

With a groan, Annie takes a drink. “Well, you obviously know that Troy and I went out on a date, then.” She pauses with a frown. “This isn’t weird, is it?”

 

“What? No, of course not. I told you, we’re over.”

 

“Okay,” Annie says. “Sorry, I’m just… I didn’t have a lot of friends in New York, and sometimes I’m not sure about the boundaries.” She plays with her straw for a moment, then blurts, “Troy kissed me and it was alright but not what I expected and we decided to just be friends, and I moved here for nothing, so now I’m taking some time to figure everything out.”

 

Britta blinks at the information overload. “Oh… wow, Annie. That’s a lot.” She pats Annie’s free hand where it lays on the bar. “Are you okay with it? You and Troy, I mean.”

 

Annie nods slowly. “I am. Really, I am. It’s caused some friction with Shirley, because she wanted Troy and me together, but… Well, either she’ll get over it or she won’t, I guess. I can’t control her actions, only my own.”

 

“I guess I’ll be in the same situation soon enough,” Britta says with a grimace.

 

“Oh?” Annie feigns disinterest, but she watches Britta like a hawk. “Did things not go well with Jeff?”

 

“It was the  _ worst.  _ He was so awkward and clearly did not want to be there. I finally got him to stop acting like a stiff, depressed jackass after a few drinks and pointed jabs about his general lifestyle. It wasn’t as bad after that. I still don’t know what got into him!” Britta says, tossing her head. “He hasn’t shown any interest in me for literal  _ years,  _ and then he asks me out? On a  _ date?  _ Like, what the hell?”

 

“So… why did you say yes, then?”

 

Britta freezes, then shrugs with a sheepish smile. “I don’t know. Curiosity? Loneliness?” She puts her head down on her arms. “It was so weird, though, and now I feel awkward whenever I’m around him. Like, is he into me again? How do I deal with that?”

 

Annie’s not sure how to answer, because saying,  _ “No, Britta, he's actually into  _ me  _ and was doing this because it’s what he thought I wanted,”  _ is definitely the wrong call. “Maybe you should ask him,” is what she goes with in the end, but it tastes like a lie in her mouth.

 

Groaning, Britta nods. “Yeah, probably. But we were talking about you,” she says, waving her hand. “So you did move here for Troy?”

 

It’s Annie’s turn to groan. “Yes. Or at least, that’s what I was telling myself, but the truth is I used him as an excuse to avoid my problems.” When Britta cocks a brow at her, Annie sighs and looks away. “I got into the grad school program I wanted—the one I interviewed for when I had my breakdown; I assume Troy or Abed told you about that?” She mirrors Britta’s nod. “I thought so. Anyway, it’s everything I ever thought I wanted, and then when I got it… I had a panic attack.”

 

“Annie, it’s okay to be scared of good things.” Britta smiles sadly. “I know how that feels, like if you admit you want those things, the more likely it is you’ll lose them. But that’s normal.”

 

Annie smiles. “Thanks, Britta, but it was more of a ‘oh no, what if this isn’t really what I want?’ kind of panic. Then I ran into Troy and, well, the rest is history.”

 

“So you gave up your dream and moved here?”

 

“I didn’t really give it up,” Annie admits. “I deferred the acceptance to take the job at Patashnik & Hickey. I could still go, if that’s what I decide.” Tracing the condensation on her glass, she shakes her head. “I don’t know what I want. It was so much easier when I could lie and say it was Troy, that now… The thought of starting over on a new dream terrifies me.”

 

“Then start small,” Britta says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Make a list of the decisions you need to make or problems to solve, rank them by impact, and then start from the bottom.”

 

“You had me at ‘list’,” Annie says with a grin. “Sincerely, thank you, Britta. I’m going to do that. That’s really good advice.”

 

Britta’s smile is soft and vulnerable. “Really?” She blinks and looks away. “I forgot what it’s like to hang out with girls; I’m so used to the guys bagging on me all the time.”

 

“Oh, Britta!” Annie stands on the rungs of the barstool and leans over the bar as much as she can to hug Britta, who also leans in, until someone gives a wolf whistle.

 

Britta pulls back with a scowl. “Shut up, Leonard! I know about your second family in North Korea!”

 

* * *

 

Jeff never answers Annie’s text and she tries not to be hurt by it. After the damage she’s done to that relationship, she tells herself she’s lucky he’s talking to her at all. 

 

Rather than dwell on it, she takes some time on Sunday to follow Britta’s advice. She thinks long and hard about her life and comes up with a list of four hard things and three easy things, the latter she adds mostly to bolster her confidence before getting to the former. 

 

By far the easiest on her list is forming a better friendship with Troy and Abed. Abed’s been tweeting about some show on Starz he wants to watch but since they can’t afford premium cable, he’ll miss it. Annie reaches out to him and Troy and offers her place.

 

**Annie:** You guys are more than welcome to come over here and watch your show. I have Starz. I have all the premium channels, in fact.

**Abed:** Do you have on demand? We missed the pilot

**Troy:** He means thank you. The second episode airs tonight cool if we come over?

**Annie:** Of course!

**Abed:** Cool 

**Abed:** Cool cool cool

 

Annie grins to herself, oddly proud of eliciting that reaction, and checks the clock. If she hurries, she’ll have time to shave her legs, curl her hair, put on some mascara and lipstick at least, try on a few outfits to find the most flattering, yet effortless, one and… She stops. No, she and Troy are just friends. She doesn’t have to put in any more effort than if, say, Britta were coming over. If she and Troy are really going to be friends, then she has to be herself, without artifice, around him.

 

Okay, she still curls her hair and tries on at least two outfits, but she’s neurotic. She would’ve done that no matter who was coming over.

 

The guys end up bringing Chinese takeout and Annie tries not to hover as they split up the dishes on her light gray, very expensive, brand new couch.  _ Be loose,  _ she tells herself, but she still has to walk into the other room until they’re done to avoid swooping in and doing it herself.

 

Abed is as much of a stickler about talking during shows as he is about movies, so Annie and Troy end up making faces at each other across the room, trying to get the other one to break first. Annie enjoys the pilot, though, and when she finds out it’s based on a book, she starts to look it up, but Abed makes her promise she won’t read it until the first season is done. To avoid the temptation of spoilers, he says, and Annie solemnly swears.

 

After the pilot ends, they have some time to kill before the second episode airs. While Abed tweets out his thoughts on the show to his followers, Annie and Troy take silly pictures to post on Instagram.

 

“We need a dope hashtag, though,” Troy says when he’s about to post the first picture after they finish haggling about filters. 

 

Annie thinks for a moment. She doesn’t understand the need for a hashtag, especially one that’s unique and not for searching, but, wanting to fit in, she offers, “How about AnniemericanGods? Since you’re at my house watching  _ American Gods?” _   When neither guy reacts, she waves her hand. “Never mind. Forget it, it was dum—”

 

“I like it,” Abed says with a shrug, turning back to his phone. “Tweeting it.”

 

Troy nods. “Me, too. I mean, I like it. And I’ll share the Instagram post to my Twitter, so I guess, yeah, I’m tweeting it, too.” When the picture posts, he grins at Annie. “Man, you’re good at everything. Like Jeff.” His face lights up and Annie sees the effort it takes for him to look casual. “Speaking of Jeff, have you talked to him at all? I mean, it’s not a big deal if you haven’t,” he says glancing away, before immediately turning back to her. “Have you?”

 

Annie shakes her head, puzzled. “No, I bumped into him yesterday but he was late for an appointment. He didn’t answer my last text either.” Her frown deepens when Troy and Abed share a look. “Is this about him and Britta? Because Britta told me their date was super weird.”

 

Troy starts to talk, but Abed stops him. “Didn’t we promise Jeff that we’d stay out of it?”

 

“Yeah, but Abed—”

 

“You guys have seen Jeff?” Annie asks, eyes darting between them. “So he knows about…” She gestures between her and Troy.

 

“We told him,” Abed says, but before she can ask anything else, he shushes her. “The show’s starting.”

 

Annie quietly fumes through the entire episode, alternately glaring at the TV and Abed. She has every intention of interrogating the two of them the minute the show ends, but Abed, the soothsayer, rushes Troy out before she can utter a single syllable.

 

She’s still agonizing over whatever Troy and Abed are keeping from her when she heads to bed. As she washes her face, her phone vibrates with a new text.

 

**Troy:** Sorry about Abed

**Annie:** It’s okay. I know he’s just being a good friend to Jeff

**Troy:** yeah

 

A few minutes go by and Annie thinks he’s done, until:

 

**Troy:** ok i know we said we need to stop interfering AND i promised Jeff but

**Troy:** Jeff was really happy to find out that you and me are just friends

**Troy:** he tried to hide it but i could tell

**Troy:** but i think if you want something to happen you’ll have to make the first move

 

Annie deliberates how to respond as she braids her hair and turns down the bed.

 

**Annie:** I think I may have burned that bridge

**Troy:** you didn’t

**Troy:** trust me

**Troy:** dude has it BAD but i don’t think he believed me when i said you were okay with us being friends

**Troy:** but remember you didn’t hear it from me

 

Annie thanks him and tells him she’ll think about it. She spends the rest of the night doing just that while staring at her ceiling.

 

* * *

 

By the time Annie pulls into her drive after work on Monday, she’s joined a local gym and picked out paint swatches for her townhome. On one hand, completing two more tasks off her list gives her a sense of satisfaction; on the other, those were the last of her easy ones and the remainder are all heavy-hitters.

 

To distract herself, Annie spends some time wheedling Troy, Abed, and Britta into helping her paint that coming weekend. Troy and Abed are easily bought with pizza, but Britta takes more careful negotiations. Annie’s just shy of offering cash when someone rings her doorbell.

 

“Shirley!” she says as she answers the door, blinking in surprise. “Come in.”

 

After following Annie into the living room, Shirley clutches her purse to her midsection, shaking her head when Annie offers her a seat. “I’ve just come to say my piece, and then I’ll go,” she says. “Annie, I realized over the weekend that I’ve been using your relationship with Troy—and to some extent, Jeff and Britta—to fill a void in my life. My boys are growing up, they don’t need me as much, and—” Shirley frowns and looks away, chin trembling.

 

“Oh, Shirley.” Annie steps in to hug her, stopping short when Shirley holds out a hand.

 

“Wait. Please… At first, I was so excited to help you with Troy, that when you told me you were done pursuing him, I knew you wouldn’t need me anymore either. You were going to be just another young person to flit in and out of my life. But I have to accept that’s my lot in life. And I just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for exploiting our friendship. I understand if you don’t want to hang out with a boring old mom anymore, now that I don’t have anything to offer you.”

 

Annie sucks in a breath. “What? Of course you do, Shirley! You were my very first friend in Greendale, even after I was horrible to you,” she says with a smile. “Remember?”

 

Shirley smiles, too, and it’s only a little shaky at the edges. “You looked so sad sitting there, picking at your sandwich, pretending you didn’t care that everyone hated you… I couldn’t help but feel sorry for you.” 

 

“Exactly! Wait, everyone  _ hated  _ me? No, that’s not important.” Annie shakes her head. “The point is, I am always going to need someone as compassionate and forgiving and protective,” she adds, thinking of Shirley’s warning about Jeff, “in my life. Even if I don’t need your help, I need my friend. I need  _ you,  _ Shirley, and I’m sure if you ask Troy or Jeff or Britta, they’ll say the same thing.”

 

“Annie!” Shirley hugs her and they both cry a little, but it’s cathartic, and Annie feels lighter once they’re done. “Oh, I’m glad I started with you,” Shirley says as she pulls away. 

 

“What do you mean, started?”

 

Mouth pulled tight, Shirley shrugs miserably. “I think I owe Jeff an apology as well. I may have done some permanent damage there between him and Britta.”

 

Annie shakes her head, but some pieces start to click into place. “Wait… Is that why…? Shirley, did you talk Jeff into asking Britta out?”

 

“Not in so many words,” she hedges, sighing when Annie stares at her. “When Jeff complained to me about your festival date—mind you, I didn’t find out it was you until after—I told him it was time for him to settle down and to stop chasing after young girls who weren’t ready for that. Then, when I found out  _ you  _ were the woman he was so hung up on… 

 

“Understand, I really thought you and Troy would make a go of it, so I told him to move on. I told him that you were in love with Troy, that the two of you were destiny, and if he stood in the way of that, he’d never forgive himself.” She shakes her head. “That night—your party—when he arrived, I told him to watch you and Troy, to see how happy you were, and if he really cared about you and Troy, to try to put others before himself.

 

“Before I left, he took me aside and said I was right. He just looked so sad, so I told him maybe he should reconsider other, more age appropriate options…”

 

“Like Britta,” Annie murmurs with a nod, then blows out a breath. That plus her unwitting rejections, and his and Britta’s friendship blowing up in his face… “Yeah, I think we both owe Jeff a few apologies.”

 

Shirley nods sadly. “Between the two of you avoiding me, it’s been so lonely in the food court. I miss my pumpkins.”

 

Annie smiles. “I’ll come down and make up for it tomorrow. I promise.”

 

With another nod and a hug, Shirley leaves to pick up her boys from soccer practice. 

 

After she’s gone,, Annie paces the house, her mind spinning with Shirley’s revelations, restless and remorseful. When she finally can’t take it any longer, she grabs her keys and wallet on her way out the door, with only a half-baked plan in mind.

 

* * *

 

No one answers her first buzz or the next four that follow, and Annie climbs back into her car, dejected, and starts to head back home. On the way, though, something catches her eye and she swings into a nearly-deserted parking lot before she even fully makes the decision to do so.

 

In the building, Annie flies up the stairs and doesn’t run into a single soul until she finds the doorway she’s looking for. With a knock, she hesitates on the threshold.

 

Jeff’s head jerks up from where he’s looming over his desk. His shirtsleeves are carefully rolled up to his elbows, tie gone and collar loose, his jacket neatly folded over the back of a chair. He looks rumpled and a little aggravated, and something deep in her gut pulls tight. “Annie?” 

 

Now that she’s here, she’s not really sure what to say and takes a moment to check out his office. She’s never been to the third floor, but it’s much more tastefully decorated than her office on the fifth. Everything’s clean cream and frosted glass and dark hardwood. Her eyes skim over the bookshelves, a modern sofa that’s more form than function, and his expansive desk, finally resting on Jeff himself, who frowns. “You’re avoiding me,” she says, wincing at the accusatory tone.

 

His throat bobs as he straightens, dropping his pen on the desktop as he gives a weary sigh. “What do you want me to say, Annie? Yeah, I have been.”

 

Of all the things she was expecting, his blunt honesty isn’t one of them. But she nods, biting her lip. “I thought we were… Are we not even friends now?”

 

“I want to be,” he says, rubbing the back of his head. “I tried to… But I don’t know what that looks like. I don’t know how to come back from—I know where it leads. For me. So I thought it was best to put some distance between us.”

 

She watches him closely as he looks anywhere but at her. “Do you still have feelings for me?” she asks, voice small and all but drowned out by the pounding of her blood through her head.

 

He barks out a bitter laugh as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “God, this conversation is the fucking cherry on top of the shitty day I’ve had. Yeah, Annie,” he says, his arm dropping back to his side as he shrugs expansively. “I do. And right now, I can’t just sit by and watch you moon over Troy. I can’t—”

 

“Wait, no.” She steps forward, reaching out towards him. “Troy told me he told you… He and I, nothing’s happening. We’re just friends. That’s all we’ll ever be.”

 

He nods, jaw clenching. “He told me, but… c’mon, Annie. It’s not going to end there. I mean, you gave up  _ everything  _ to be with him. And I've seen the cutesy tweets and Instagram posts. I can’t—I can’t stand in the way of that.” His mouth twists in a sad imitation of a smile. “I like you, I do, but the two of you… You’re young, you’ll figure it out eventually.” Shaking his head, he looks down. “And even if you don’t, I can’t be the person you settle for. I can’t be your second choice. I couldn’t do that for anyone, but… especially not you.”

 

“Jeff,” she says, her heart in her throat as he turns to stare out his window, but he doesn’t acknowledge her. She starts to walk out, but something makes her pause and take in the sight of him, his broad silhouette outlined by the glow of the streetlights outside the window, and she knows that if she leaves now, they’ll never get back to this. It will close the door on any and all possibility between them. Her breath leaves her body in a harsh gust as she contemplates the bleak, Jeff-less future on the other side of the threshold, and she can’t face it.

  
Instead, Annie rushes towards him, circling his desk and stretching onto her her toes to cup his jaw in her hand, and turns his shocked face to her, kissing him with everything she has.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this story (and I hope you did) and you want to read the rest (and I hope you do), please know that if I do not post the remainder within two weeks you have my **FULL CONSENT** to come harangue me on [tumblr](http://itsactuallycorrine.tumblr.com/) until I finish and post it. In fact, I strongly encourage it!


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